Providing for the adoption of the concurrent resolution (S. Con. Res. 70) setting forth the congressional budget for the United States Government for fiscal year 2009 and including the appropriate budgetary levels for fiscal years 2008 and 2010 through 2013.

Mr. Speaker, I want to thank my very, very, very good friend from Massachusetts (Mr. McGovern) for yielding me the customary 30 minutes, and I yield myself as much time as I may consume.

(Mr. HASTINGS of Washington asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. Speaker, this rule is redundant and totally unnecessary. The House doesn't need to pass this rule to go to conference with the Senate. Democrats already have all the power they need to go to conference on the budget. The Budget Committee chairman already has the ability to make a motion to go to conference, and a rule that this House passed 2 months ago also provides that authority. We have already done this with the rule, H. Res. 1036, which my very, very, very good friend, Mr. McGovern, managed only a couple of months ago. There is no reason for the House to be considering this rule, except perhaps one, Mr. Speaker, and that's so that the Democrat majority can deny Republicans their rights as the minority party.

Democrats are going to get their way at the end of the day; majorities always do that. But in putting this rule on the floor, Democrats are saying that they needn't even bother with respecting minority rights. This rule exists solely as an abuse of power.

Mr. Speaker, when Democrats won control of the Congress in 2006, they promised the American people that they would run the most open and honest House in history. They would seek to work in a bipartisan manner. Instead of keeping that promise, the Democrat majority has stooped to depths and gone to extremes that no previous majority in the House has ever dared. When it comes time to shutting down debate, silencing ideas, restricting minority rights, ignoring rules they themselves wrote, and running the House in a top-down, shut-up, sit- down manner, this Democrat majority has no peer.

The Democrat promise to run the most open, honest House in history has been revealed as a hollow charade. They have passed more closed rules that block all amendments and debate than any House in history. They wrote new rules to prohibit votes from being held open to change the vote's outcome, and then violated that rule time after time. They passed new rules to ensure House and Senate conference committees are more open and public, but instead they turn around and retreat even further behind closed doors. They almost totally abandon even holding conference committees.

Mr. Speaker, why is this rule suddenly on the House floor today? Why the sudden interest of Democrats in the House to go to conference with the Senate on a budget? The House passed their version of the budget on March 13. The Senate passed their version on March 14. Today is May 14. Why didn't we go to conference 2 months ago? Never mind, of course, that the law sets April 15 as the deadline for Congress to pass a final budget resolution. The facts are that this House could and should have gone to conference 2 months ago. But Democrats have instead hid behind closed doors to negotiate, bargain and cut deals to write a final budget.

By reading media reports, Mr. Speaker, it appears the Democrat majority in the House and Senate have reached a final agreement on the final budget for fiscal year 2009. That agreement will apparently increase spending by billions of dollars and include the largest tax increase in history. So now they apparently are going to go to a phony conference after all the true tax and spend work has been done in secret. Mr. Speaker, they aren't doing this to be more open and honest. They are doing this to force through their plan to massively increase taxes and increase government spending.

Mr. Speaker, the news media also reports that the Democrat majority has abandoned another of their promises it made to the American people when they wrote the new law for the House that is known as PAYGO. This is a rule that was sought by the Blue Dog Democrats. This rule places a blanket requirement that any bill that lowers taxes or increases spending must be correspondingly offset. Under the secret budget agreement, it appears that the Democrat PAYGO rule was jettisoned.

Blue Dog Democrats have given up on their rule and their PAYGO principle. They traded an enforceable House rule for a meaningless promise from a Senator. It's meaningless because everyone knows that this one Senator will in all likelihood be overridden by his Senate colleagues. Mr. Speaker, one can respect my colleagues

on the other side of the aisle for standing on principle, but this is a principle that's being abandoned.

This rule isn't necessary. The Democrats already have all the power they need to go to conference. So the only reason we are here is because the majority is trying to restrict the rights of the minority to be heard and for the Republicans to have a fair opportunity to offer alternative proposals to legislation Americans care about most, taxing and spending.

We are being blocked, shut down, and unfairly restricted in our rights. And as a result, our constituents will potentially be subjected to higher taxes and more government spending. I really don't think Americans want that.

When it comes to Democrat plans for billions of dollars in new government spending, Republicans have the right to protest, to demand votes in the House, to have the voices of Members representing almost half of this country to be heard.

We especially have the right to protest the Democrat majority's writing of a $200 billion appropriations bill that just completely skips over any hearing or markup in the Appropriations Committee. Instead of passing a bill to fund our troops who are fighting to protect America, Democrats are short-circuiting the legislative process, shutting out Republicans and larding the bill up with billions and billions of dollars of unrelated spending.

Right now, Mr. Speaker, upstairs in the Capitol on the third floor, the House Rules Committee is meeting to consider this massive $200 billion supplemental spending bill. The text of this bill was just released an hour before the committee met. It never went before the Appropriations Committee. Republicans have obviously just had minutes to read the bill. This is wrong and is abuse of power by the Democrat majority. The American people deserve to have a more open process on how their tax dollars are spent.

So, Mr. Speaker, I repeat again that this rule is totally unnecessary. Democrats already have the power to go to conference. They're just 2 months late in doing so. The Democrats have broken their promise to the American people to operate the House in an open and honest manner. They are conspiring in secret to write a budget that increases taxes by the largest amount in history and use a vital troop funding bill to try to pass billions and billions of new dollars in unrelated government spending.

So for these reasons, Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to oppose this rule.

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

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Tennessee (Mr. David Davis).

Mr. Speaker, I would inquire from my very good friend from Massachusetts if he has any more requests for time on his side.

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

I would like to ask my good friend from Massachusetts just a very straight-up question, and I will be happy to yield to him.

Why are we addressing and debating this redundant rule today?

I yield to my friend.

Reclaiming my time, Mr. Speaker, of course, which we already did on H. Res. 1036, which my good friend managed on the floor here just a couple of months ago.

Mr. Speaker, let me talk about an issue that's been talked a great deal about here on the House floor by colleagues on both sides of the aisle, and I certainly hear about it when I go home.

Mr. Speaker, since the Democrats took control of Congress in January of 2007, the cost of gasoline has risen to record-setting prices. In fact, the cost of gasoline has gone up more in 16 months than it had gone up in the prior 6 years. According to a report from just 2 days ago by AAA in my State of Washington, the price for a gallon of gasoline is at a record $3.80. That's 26 cents higher than it was just last month. The average price of a gallon of diesel is $4.53, which is $1.46 higher than a year ago.

Speaker Pelosi made a promise that the Democrats had a ``commonsense plan'' to ``lower the price at the pump.'' But this Congress has done nothing and has only seen fuel prices rise.

Mr. Speaker, I really believe it's time for the House to act. It's time for the House to debate ideas for lowering prices, and it's time for the Democrats to reveal their promised plan.

So by defeating the previous question, this House can finally consider solutions to rising energy costs. When the previous question is defeated, I will move to add a section to the rule, not rewrite the entire rule, just to add a section to the rule, that would allow the House to consider H.R. 5984, the Clean Energy Tax Stimulus Act of 2008, introduced by Representative Bartlett of Maryland, as well as ``any amendment which the proponent asserts, if enacted, would have the effect of lowering the national average price per gallon of regular unleaded gasoline and diesel fuel by increasing the domestic supply of oil by permitting the extraction of oil in the Outer Continental Shelf.''

Mr. Speaker, the United States is the only developed nation in the world that

forbids safe energy production on its Outer Continental Shelf. This puts our country and economy at a disadvantage to other countries. According to the U.S. Minerals Management Service, America's deep seas on the Outer Continental Shelf contain 420 trillion cubic feet of natural gas and 86 billion barrels of oil. Let me repeat that, Mr. Speaker. The Outer Continental Shelf contains 420 trillion cubic feet of natural gas and 86 billion barrels of oil. That's 86 billion barrels of American oil that sits waiting while we import a little over 4\1/2\ billion barrels from foreign countries each year.

So, Mr. Speaker, if we are serious about addressing gas prices and energy costs in America, we need to get serious about accessing our country's energy resources.

Some will declare that it's unsafe to produce energy from reserves beneath the ocean in the Outer Continental Shelf. But other countries do it safely all around the world. As a matter of fact, our country utilizes deep sea production in the Gulf of Mexico.

Mr. Speaker, this technology was severely tested, severely tested, and proven safe when two back-to-back category five storms hit the Gulf of Mexico in 2005. Almost 3,000 offshore platforms were in the direct path of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. Some experienced 5 to 6 hours of sustained winds at 170 miles per hour and gusts over 200 miles per hour.

Now, to be sure, production was halted and platform workers were evacuated during these terrible hurricanes; so there was no loss of life.

But, Mr. Speaker, do you know how many of these rigs ruptured? The answer is zero. Zero. Some tops fell off but no platforms ruptured. So I think we must make a distinction between concerns that production can be done safely and scare tactics that oppose efforts to make use of America's resources and reduce imports from foreign nations.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent to have the text of the amendment and extraneous material inserted into the Record prior to the vote on the previous question.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to defeat the previous question so that we can consider this vitally important issue for America's families; workers; truckers; small businesses; and, for that matter, our entire economy.

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

Mr. Speaker, I object to the vote on the ground that a quorum is not present and make the point of order that a quorum is not present.

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

Mr. Speaker, by direction of the Committee on Rules, I call up House Resolution 1190 and ask for its immediate consideration.

Mr. Speaker, for the purpose of debate only, I yield the customary 30 minutes to the gentleman from Washington, my very, very good friend, Mr. Hastings. 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 insert extraneous materials into the Record.

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

Mr. Speaker, H. Res. 1190 provides for the adoption of the Senate budget resolution, S. Con. Res. 70, with an amendment consisting of the House-passed budget resolution, H. Con. Res. 312. It also provides that the House request a conference with the Senate.

This rule simply allows the House to move quickly and efficiently to a conference on the budget resolution. Let me be clear, the minority still has the right to offer a motion to instruct conferees, and they still have the ability to defeat this rule, denying the opportunity to begin a conference on the budget resolution.

It's a simple and straightforward rule that allows the House to do what the American people sent us here to do, legislate. The American people don't want the partisan infighting that is being perpetrated by the minority in this Chamber. Time after time the American people have spoken, and their voices are being heard loud and clear. They want action, not disruption. They want us to do our job. And this rule will allow us to do just that.

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

Thank you for inquiring. I'm it.

Thank you for yielding.

We are debating this rule today to do the people's business, to expedite the process so we can move to a conference on the budget resolution.

Mr. Speaker, I always appreciate hearing from my very good friend from Washington State explain his rationale on various issues. But let me just say a couple of things.

If we want to have a serious discussion about the cost of energy in this country, let's understand one thing. The Republicans had been in control of this Congress for 12 years and the Republicans have controlled the White House for nearly 8 years. When George Bush went into office on January 22, 2001, the cost of a gallon of gas was $1.47. As of last week, it was $3.61. It's gone up since last week, and part of that is because of the failed, the failed policies of this administration and the Republican Congress.

Yesterday, thanks to the leadership of Speaker Pelosi, we voted on a bill to instruct the President not to continue putting oil in the Strategic Petroleum Reserve. And guess what. President Bush said he's going to veto it. He's going to veto a measure that will bring down prices for oil and gas in the short term. That's where their priorities are. Siding with Big Oil against the consumer. So enough is enough.

And I would say, Mr. Speaker, that what we're trying to do here today is expedite consideration of a budget resolution. After nearly 8 years, the Bush legacy is the highest deficits in our Nation's history. That is what he has left our children and our grandchildren, the greatest amount of national debt in our Nation's history. Future generations, our kids and our grandchildren, will be forced to pay the price for this unprecedented rise in debt and the Republicans' fiscally reckless and irresponsible policies.

The budget resolution that Chairman Spratt, our leader here in the House, has fashioned and the one that he is going to conference with is a budget with a conscience. That's something we had not had when the Republicans were in control of this Congress. It is a budget that doesn't cut Medicare and doesn't cut Medicaid and doesn't cut the Community Development Block Grant program and doesn't cut LIHEAP. It is a budget that understands that average people have suffered under the 12 years that Republicans controlled this Congress and under the 8 years that George Bush has been in office. It is a budget that protects priorities like SCHIP, infrastructure needs, homeland security, innovation, energy, education, health care, veterans, and the environment. It protects middle class tax relief, including the alternative minimum tax, the child tax credit, and the marriage penalties. In short, what the Democrats are trying to do is get a budget passed that charts a new direction for a stronger, safer, more compassionate America, a direction very different from the one that this President and the previous Republican Congress has brought us down.

Let me finally say, Mr. Speaker, this will be the first budget resolution conference report to be considered in an election year since Bill Clinton was in office. So for all the talk about process, the fact of the matter is we have a Congress, a Democratic Congress, that is actually committed to getting things done, including a budget resolution.

And again, when we bring the budget resolution to the floor, it will be the first budget resolution conference report to be considered in an election year since Bill Clinton was in office. And that is something I think we all can be proud of and the American people can be proud of a finished product which will be a budget that will reflect their priorities.

So, Mr. Speaker, I would urge a ``yes'' vote on the previous question and on the rule.

The material previously referred to by Mr. Hastings of Washington is as follows:

Amendment to H. Res. 1190 Offered by Mr. Hastings of Washington

At the end of the resolution, add the following:

Sec. 2. That upon adoption of this resolution the Speaker

shall, pursuant to clause 2(b) of rule XVIII, declare the

House resolved into the Committee of the Whole House on the

state of the Union for consideration of the bill (H.R. 5984)

to amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to provide for the

limited continuation of clean energy production incentives

and incentives to improve energy efficiency in order to

prevent a downturn in these sectors that would result from a

lapse in the tax law. The first reading of the bill shall he

dispensed with. All points of order against consideration of

the bill are waived. General debate shall not exceed one hour

equally divided and controlled by the chairman and ranking

minority member of the Committee on Ways and Means. After

general debate the bill shall be considered for amendment

under the five-minute rule. All points of order against

provisions in the bill are waived. No amendment to the bill

shall be in order except any amendment which the proponent

asserts, if enacted, would have the effect of lowering the

national average price per gallon of regular unleaded

gasoline and diesel fuel by increasing the domestic supply of

oil by permitting the extraction of oil in the Outer

Continental Shelf. Such amendments shall be considered as

read, shall be debatable for thirty minutes equally divided

and controlled by the proponent and an opponent, shall not be

subject to amendment, and shall not be subject to a demand

for division of the question in the House or in the Committee

of the Whole. All points of order against such amendments are

waived. At the conclusion of consideration of the bill for

amendment the Committee shall rise and report the bill to the

House with such amendments as may have been adopted. The

previous question shall be considered as ordered on the bill

and amendments thereto to final passage without intervening

motion except one motion to recommit with or without

instructions.

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

Madam Speaker, due to illness, I was unable to participate in the following votes. If I had been present, I would have voted as follows:

May 13, 2008: Rollcall vote 306, on motion to suspend the rules and agree--H. Res. 1181, Expressing condolences and sympathy to the people of Burma for the grave loss of life and vast destruction caused by Cyclone Nargis--I would have voted ``aye.''

Rollcall vote 307, on motion to suspend the rules and pass--H.R. 6022, Strategic Petroleum Reserve Fill Suspension and Consumer Protection Act--I would have voted ``aye.''

Rollcall vote 308, on motion to suspend the rules and pass--H.R. 4008, Credit and Debit Card Receipt Clarification Act of 2007--I would have voted ``aye.''

May 14, 2008: Rollcall vote 309, question of consideration on the role--H. Res. 1189, providing for consideration of the conference report to accompany H.R. 2419, the Farm, Nutrition, and Bioenergy Act-- I would have voted ``nay.''

Rollcall vote 310, on ordering the previous question on the rule--H. Res. 1189, providing for consideration of the conference report to accompany H.R. 2419, the Farm, Nutrition, and Bioenergy Act--I would have voted ``nay.''

Rollcall vote 311, on agreeing to the resolution--H. Res. 1189, providing for consideration of the conference report to accompany H.R. 2419, the Farm, Nutrition, and Bioenergy Act--I would have voted ``nay.''

Rollcall vote 312, on motion to suspend the rules and agree--H. Res. 1134, Supporting the goals and ideals of Mental Health Month--I would have voted ``aye.''

Rollcall vote 313, on motion to suspend the rules and agree--H. Res. 1176, Supporting the goals and ideals of National Train Day--I would have voted ``aye.''

Rollcall vote 314, on motion to recommit conference report with instructions--H.R. 2410, the Farm, Nutrition, and Bioenergy Act--I would have voted ``aye.''

Rollcall vote 315, on agreeing to the conference report--H.R. 2410, the Farm, Nutrition, and Bioenergy Act--I would have voted ``nay.''

Rollcall vote 316, on motion to suspend the rules and agree to, as amended--H. Res. 1133, Congratulating Winona State University on winning the 2008 Division II men's basketball championships--I would have voted ``aye.''

Rollcall vote 317, on ordering the previous question--H. Res. 1190, Providing for the adoption of the concurrent resolution, S. Con. Res. 70, the Congressional Budget Act--I would have voted ``nay.''

Rollcall vote 318, on agreeing to the resolution--H. Res. 1190, Providing for the adoption of the concurrent resolution, S. Con. Res. 70, the Congressional Budget Act--I would have voted ``nay.''

Rollcall vote 319, on motion to suspend the rules and agree to--H. Res. 1173, Recognizing AmeriCorps Week--I would have voted ``nay.''

Rollcall vote 320, on motion to instruct the conferees on--H.R. 4040, Consumer Product Safety Commission Reform Act--I would have voted ``aye.''

Rollcall vote 321, on motion to instruct the conferees on--S. Con. Res. 70, the Congressional Budget Resolution--I would have voted ``aye.''

Rollcall vote 322, on motion to suspend the rules and agree to, as amended--H. Res. 789, Honoring public child welfare agencies, nonprofit organizations and private entities providing services for foster children--I would have voted ``aye.''

May 15, 2008: Rollcall vote 323, on ordering the previous question-- H. Res. 1197, Providing for consideration of the Senate amendment to H.R. 2642, Military Construction and Veterans Affairs and Related Agencies Appropriations Act--I would have voted ``nay.''

Rollcall vote 324, on agreeing to the resolution--H. Res. 1197, Providing for consideration of the Senate amendment to H.R. 2642, Military Construction and Veterans Affairs and Related Agencies Appropriations Act--I would have voted ``nay.''

Rollcall vote 325, on motion to suspend the rules and pass, as amended--H.R. 5614, Original Saint-Gaudens Double Eagle Ultra-High Relief Palladium Bullion Coin Act--I would have voted ``aye.''

Rollcall vote 326, on motion to suspend the rules and pass, as amended--H.R. 406, Alice Paul Women's Suffrage Congressional Gold Medal Act--I would have voted ``aye.''

Rollcall vote 327, on motion to suspend the rules and pass, as amended--H.R. 5872, Boy Scouts of America Centennial Commemorative Coin Act--I would have voted ``aye.''

Rollcall vote 328, on agreeing to the Senate amendment with amendment No. 1--H.R. 2642, Military Construction and Veterans Affairs and Related Agencies Appropriations Act--I would have voted ``present.''

Rollcall vote 329, on agreeing to the Senate amendment with amendment No. 2--H.R. 2642, Military Construction and Veterans Affairs and Related Agencies Appropriations Act--I would have voted ``nay.''

Rollcall vote 330, on agreeing to the Senate amendment with amendment No. 3--H.R. 2642, Military Construction and Veterans Affairs and Related Agencies Appropriations Act--I would have voted ``nay.''

I would like to thank the gentleman for yielding time.

Mr. Speaker, I'm glad we're talking about the budget, but I will tell you the budget I want to talk about right now is the budget of the American family and small businesses and the middle class across America.

I was just in Elizabethton, Tennessee, over the weekend back at Whitson's Barber Shop, and I can tell you the issue that is on people's minds right now is not more taxes and more spending; it's the need for a true energy policy in America. An energy policy that actually uses American energy. We need a policy that will stop taxing and spending. We need an energy policy that will break our dependence on foreign oil.

Right now we're buying our energy from people that hate us, hate our freedoms, and, quite frankly, hate our religion. We need to go back to the drawing board and have an energy plan that uses American energy. I'm talking about clean coal technology. I'm talking about drilling off the Outer Continental Shelf. I'm talking about drilling in ANWR. I'm talking about wind technology. I'm talking about building safe nuclear plants. Those are the things that will bring down the cost at the pumps.

We have moms and dads right now that are worried about how they're going to get their children to school in the mornings. They're worried about how they're going to put food on their kitchen table. That's the budget that the American people are concerned about. The American people are looking for solutions. They are not looking for big government, inside the beltway in Washington. The American people are looking for solutions to make sure that we keep government as small as possible, and they're looking to make sure that we pass an energy policy that actually uses American energy. It's time for no more excuses. It's time for us to pass an energy bill that will give some relief to the American family.

It's basic economics. I talk to schools all across my district when I go home, and it's basic economics. You can talk to any high school student. They will understand supply and demand. If you have a lot of a supply and a little bit of demand, the cost will go down; and, conversely, if you have a lot of demand for a limited supply, cost will go up. Right now we have a demand for a lot of energy, a lot of oil. And right now we're dependent on the Middle East, on Venezuela, on Russia, other countries; and we're actually begging the Middle East to increase their energy production. And we have policies here in Washington that won't allow us to use our own American natural resources in energy.

The American people want solutions. They want solutions now. And they don't want it in taxing and spending. It's time for no more excuses. We need an energy plan that uses American energy.

Mr. Speaker, I wish to clarify my vote on Ordering

the Previous Question on the Rule for the Conference Report on S. Con. Res. 70, the Budget Resolution.

I have always strongly supported the current ban and worked to protect Florida's beaches by helping to enact Public Law 109-432. With the energy needs our Nation is facing, other States may decide to explore for more energy sources and I support their right to drill off of their coasts if that is what they choose to do.