Providing for consideration of the bill (H.R. 5521) making appropriations for the Legislative Branch for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2007, and for other purposes.

Mr. Speaker, by direction of the Committee on Rules, I call up House Resolution 849 and ask for its immediate consideration.

Mr. Speaker, for purposes of debate only, I yield the customary 30 minutes to the gentleman from Massachusetts (Mr. McGovern), 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.

House Resolution 849 provides for a structured rule with 1 hour of general debate equally divided and controlled by the chairman and ranking minority member of the Committee on Appropriations. It waives all points of order against consideration of the bill, and provides for one motion to recommit.

This rule also makes in order, as a structured rule, every amendment brought forward to the Rules Committee, so by anyone's standard this resolution would be designated as being very fair.

Mr. Speaker, the underlying legislation, H.R. 5521, funds the legislative branch of our Federal Government, including Congress, the Capitol Police, the Congressional Budget Office, the Architect of the Capitol, the Capitol Visitor Center, the Library of Congress, the Government Printing Office, and the Government Accountability Office.

As one wise Member of our body said, the $3 million provided in this bill to operate the legislative branch agencies under the jurisdiction of the House seem straightforward and fiscally responsible. I think if we overlooked this appropriations bill, which was passed in a bipartisan way, the two words you would say are an increase close to the cost-of-living adjustment and always less than what was requested. We requested a fiscally responsible bill.

For example, the overall budget is $230 million less than the President's budget. The House of Representatives is funded at $19 million less than the budget request. The Capitol Police gets $12 million more than last year, but $36 million below the request. The CBO is $1 million more than last year, but $1

million less than the request. The Architect's Office is $5 million more, but $114 million below the request. The Library of Congress is $15 million more than last year, but $18 million below the request. The GPO is $9 million more, but $21 million below the request. The Government Accountability Office is $10 million more than last year, but $14 million below the request.

There are a number of other changes made within the bill that I think are also positive. One of the changes will be for the Members' allowances. If they are unspent, they will be used to reduce the budget deficit. For someone who has regularly returned back at least 10 to 20 percent of my budget allocation, it is nice to know that it is also going to a worthy cause.

In addition, this bill provides provisions for increased congressional oversight and accountability on the completion of the much-anticipated Capitol Visitor Center, as well as some very specific report language and an amendment that dealt also with the Architect's Office and the Government Accountability Office until the new Architect is provided.

The underlying bill provides for full funding of staff COLAs and transit benefits, it bans smoking in the Rayburn cafeteria, and I understand on page 35 it says that the gentleman from Massachusetts will voluntarily give me his salary for the next year, or until my personal debt has been retired, whichever comes first, which will be the year.

It also provides for 50 new investigators in the General Accounting Office to conduct increased oversight on government contracts issued in the wake of hurricane devastation in the gulf coast as well as in Iraq.

Thus, Mr. Speaker, I think this underlying bill is fiscally responsible, provides modest increases in the essential legislative branch functions, but still provides less in almost every major category than the President's budget requested. So I urge adoption of this rule and its underlying legislation.

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

Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the comments of my colleague from Massachusetts, I will appreciate his check, and I look forward to passing this particular bill.

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

The previous question was ordered.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Utah, my friend, Mr. Bishop, for yielding me the customary 30 minutes, and I yield myself such time as I may consume.

(Mr. McGOVERN asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. Speaker, I cannot recall the last time I came to the House floor to say anything good about a rule, but the fact of the matter is this is a good rule. Every Member who brought an amendment before the Rules Committee, their amendment has been made in order. So this is a good rule.

We have no speakers, we are not requiring any votes, and I want to thank the gentleman from Utah for bringing this to the floor.

I rise today in support of the FY 2007 Legislative Branch Appropriations bill. I commend Chairman Lewis and Ranking Member Obey, as well as the rest of the Appropriations Committee, for all their hard work on this legislation.

Historically, the Legislative Branch Appropriations bill is not considered under an open process like the other appropriations bills. Instead, the House usually considers this bill under a closed process. However, even though the Rules Committee reported a restrictive rule again, this year every amendment offered in the Rules Committee was made in order.

Mr. Speaker, it's refreshing that this bill is a bipartisan product of the legislative process, a true rarity under this Republican leadership. The Republican leadership should look to this bill as a lesson in how this body should be run. Sunshine should be let it. Amendments should be made in order. Mr. Speaker, as much as possible, the process should be open.

The fact that Mr. Obey and others had questions regarding the operations at the Office of the Architect of the Capitol was valid and was heard. With unanimous support in Committee, Ranking Member Obey's amendment putting the Comptroller General in direct control over the office of the Architect of the Capitol and the establishment of an Office of the Inspector General in the Office of the Architect of the Capitol was offered and adopted. The rule protects that amendment from being struck from the bill.

Mr. Speaker, with an ever growing deficit of $9 billion, I think even my good friend and colleague, Congressman Flake, would agree with me in the right to question where funds have been spent on the new Capitol Visitors Center. Now, I realize the cost is often never close to the estimate; however, this project was originally budgeted at $265 million and the new projected cost estimate is $556 million. That is $25 million more than double the cost and we are not finished. Completion dates and costs seem to just be getting later and higher.

The rest of the budget for the Legislative Branch seems to get it right. Small overall increases help keep Congress functioning. With a $110 million increase from FY06, this bill provides for 50 new Government Accountability Office, GAO, investigators to provide for increased oversight in gulf coast reconstruction and the war in Iraq. Providing for a strong and properly funded GAO is important, especially when considering that oversight is nonexistent in this Republican- controlled House.

Again, I would like to thank Chairman Lewis and Ranking Member Obey for their hard drafting this legislation and for their commitment to this body.

With that, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Chairman, I offer an amendment.

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

It is my understanding that my respective chairman and ranking member have some concerns about the amendment, and I intend to withdraw it, therefore. However, I would like to speak to it briefly, if I may.

Many of us who have served here for a number of years still find ourselves, unfortunately, lost when we travel in the basement of this building or some of the other office buildings. That is a frustrating and sometimes humorous experience for us under normal circumstances, but in an emergency situation it could be a matter of life and death.

I am aware that there are firms that specialize in the electronic mapping of facilities precisely such as this for the purpose of helping first responders respond more quickly and ably in the event of an emergency. Indeed, schools throughout my State have been mapped in such a way, as is our capital complex in Washington State today.

What I am asking for with this amendment is the diversion of $2.4 million that is currently allocated towards the House Printing Office in order that the Architect of the Capitol could invest in an electronic mapping system to provide this function.

Let me describe briefly what can happen with these electronic mapping systems. Essentially, rather than relying on the Architect of the Capitol to have a bunch of hard copy blueprints that would be presumably folded out in a time of crisis, the entire complex would be mapped in an electronic form such that the information about the complex could be downloaded and available on laptops, PDAs or other electronic means. This could include response plans, hazardous materials locations, and paths of egress or ingress.

Imagine had Flight 93 hit this Capitol, the chaos and the smoke and the toxic fumes that would have engulfed this building, we could easily have had Members of Congress, staff, members of the public trapped in unaccessible locations that the first responders would not even know how to reach.

What we are asking for today is that we invest in a system that will make it possible for our first responders, our Capitol Police, firefighters from on grounds or off grounds to respond promptly, efficiently to save lives and to restore order as needed.

This is a relatively small investment for what could one day be a profound and important life-saving measure. I would encourage my good friends, the chairman and ranking member, to work with me in the future on this measure.

I yield to the gentleman from California.

I thank the gentleman, and hope that we might be able to work on this in the future.

Mr. Chairman, I ask unanimous consent to withdraw my amendment.

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

The bill that we bring before you today is the legislative branch bill that funds the activities of the House. The bill includes approximately $3 billion, excluding the Senate items, an increase of about 3.6 percent over FY 2006.

We worked very closely with Mr. Obey and his staff in developing this bill. I want to thank the committee members on both sides of the aisle, as well as our very fine staff for the work they have done.

While the bill is very small in size, it is the fundamental oil that allows the legislative branch to carry out its important responsibilities relative to our Nation's legislative and governmental interests here in Washington.

The bill represents a $224 million reduction, or 6.9 percent below the request. There will be no further reduction in the current workforce. All personnel cost-of-living increases and all

of their pay-related costs are provided. The Capitol Visitor Center is funded at the cost-to-complete level of $25.6 million. This amount reflects the GAO's latest estimate, and the Architect has concurred with the estimate. An additional $20.5 million is included for project fit-out and operations, essentially getting the place ready to go. The bill establishes an Inspector General in the Architect of the Capitol's Office. The IG will audit and report semiannually on management and operations of the AOC.

We expect to complete this bill today and move forward from there to the foreign operations bill.

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

Mr. Chairman, I thank the gentleman from California, Mr. Thompson, for his hard work and leadership on electronic-waste generated by the legislative branch. The Committee shares his concern and has included language in its report to ensure that Member offices are made aware that the House has regulations regarding the disposal of unwanted electronic equipment and for the Chief Administrative Officer to develop user friendly guidelines and procedures for Member offices. In addition, the Committee will request that each legislative branch agency provide information to the Committee regarding its disposal policy for electronic equipment and work to address this issue in conference.

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

Mr. Chairman, will the gentleman yield?

Mr. Chairman, Mr. Obey and I have both understood for years that if you wander through the Rayburn Building and do not get lost, you have been here too long. With that, I think you have a very good proposal.

Mr. Chairman, my views on this bill are well known, as well as the provisions in it. I think the report speaks for itself.

I yield back the balance of my time.