Recognizing the exemplarily service, devotion to country, and selfless sacrifice of Special Warfare Operators 2nd Class Matthew McCabe and Jonathan Keefe and Special Warfare Operator 1st Class Julio Huertas in capturing Ahmed Hashim Abed, one of the most-wanted terrorists in Iraq, and pledging to continue to support members of the United States Armed Forces serving in harm's way.

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 1107) to enact certain laws relating to public contracts as title 41, United States Code, ``Public Contracts''.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on the bill under consideration.

I yield myself such time as I may consume.

H.R. 1107 codifies into positive law as title 41, United States Code, certain general and permanent laws related to public contracts. It is a rather extensive bill, fairly dry bill, that doesn't do much in the way of substance but does many technical corrections.

It was prepared by the Office of Law Revision Counsel in coordination with our Judiciary Committee.

This bill is not intended to make substantive changes in the law, but as is typical with the codification process, a number of nonsubstantive revisions are made, including the reorganization of sections into a more coherent overall structure. But these changes are not intended in any way to have any substantive effect, simply procedural, and make the code more easily used.

The bill has been subject to extensive review in the previous two Congresses, by relevant congressional committees, agencies, and practitioners, as well as the public.

Accordingly, I urge my colleagues to support this legislation.

I reserve the balance of our time.

Mr. Speaker, I would like to note a question that has come to our attention with respect to a reporting requirement found in 41 U.S.C. 405b(d) of the present law and restated as 41 U.S.C. 2304(c)(2) in the bill. There is a question whether that reporting requirement is still effective.

Section 3003 of the Federal Reports Elimination and the Sunset Act of 1995, 31 U.S.C. 1113 note, stated that each provision of law requiring the submission to Congress of any annual, semiannual, or other regular periodic report specified in a list that had been prepared by the House Clerk would cease to be effective as of May 15, 2000.

The provision in question is listed on page 156 of that document.

In this regard, it should be noted that, as positive law codification bills do not change substantive law, the restatement of a revision does not revive it if it has otherwise become ineffective.

Thus, the reporting requirement, as restated, is effective to the extent, and only to the extent, that it was effective under the underlying source law on the day before the restatement was enacted.

That is a matter for the agency and the committee of substantive jurisdiction to work out. If legislation removing that requirement from the text of the underlying law is enacted before final enrollment of this bill, that change can be reflected at that time, if and when it occurs.

Mr. Speaker, this is a bill that shows bipartisanship. Mr. Issa has done a wonderful job representing his side of the aisle. I am proud to represent mine. Republicans and Democrats have come together on this bill. I would ask for a positive, unanimous vote on this important legislation.

I yield back the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 3237) to enact certain laws relating to national and commercial space programs as title 51, United States Code, ``National and Commercial Space Programs''.

I ask unanimous consent that all Members have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on the bill under consideration.

I yield myself such time as I may consume.

H.R. 3237 codifies into positive law as title 51, United States Code, the laws related to national and commercial space programs. It was jointly introduced by Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers from the great State of Michigan and Ranking Member Lamar Smith from the great State of Texas, where many of these space programs are located. It was prepared by the Office of Law Revision Counsel as part of its functions under 2 U.S.C. 285(b), which it performs in coordination with our committee.

This bill is not intended to make any substantive changes in the law. As is typical with the codification process, a number of nonsubstantive revisions are made, including the reorganization of sections into a more coherent overall structure, but these changes are not intended to have any substantive effect. The bill has been subject to extensive public review in the previous two Congresses, including by relevant congressional committees, agencies, practitioners, academic experts and whoever else is left. The current bill is substantially identical to the bill Chairman Conyers and Ranking Member Smith introduced 2 years ago, with a few additional technical clarifications suggested by interested parties.

I urge my colleagues to support this legislation, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, at this point I ask everybody to vote unanimously in support of H.R. 3237 and pass it, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of H.R. 1107, to enact certain laws relating to public contracts as Title 41, United States Code, H.R. 1107. This important legislation was introduced jointly by Chairman Conyers and Ranking Member Smith.

H.R. 1107 is not intended to make any substantive changes in the law. H.R. 1107 is a simple codification. There are a myriad of non-

substantive revisions are made, including the reorganization of sections into a more coherent overall structure.

Simply put, all H.R. 1107 does is codifies into positive law as title 41, United States Code, certain general and permanent laws related to public contracts. This bill was prepared by the Office of Law Revision Counsel, as part of its functions under 2 U.S.C. Sec. 285(b).

Lawyers run into public contract law in limited circumstances. Lawyers who represent firms that operate primarily in the commercial sector, but are tangentially active in the contracting community, often find that their clients have conflicts with the federal government.

Additionally, lawyers may run into public contract issues when they represent subcontractors to large Department of Defense (DOD) contractors, who have potential or ongoing disputes with the prime contractor that they want to avoid or resolve.

H.R. 1107 simplifies, codifies, and streamlines public contract law. H.R. 1107 has already been subject to extensive agency and public review in the last Congress, and the Congress before last. Given the extensive agency and public review and the simplicity of the bill, I urge my colleagues to support this bill and vote for it in the affirmative.

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

I support H.R. 3237, a bill proposed by the Office of Law Revision Counsel to enact title 51 of the U.S. Code, as positive law. The Judiciary Committee has jurisdiction over law revision bills, and this particular bill creates a new title to address national and commercial space programs.

Many laws have been enacted over the years dealing with national and commercial space programs. However, there is no distinct title in the U.S. Code to consolidate these laws. This is because the U.S. Code was established in 1926, long before space programs were ever contemplated. This bill would put all of these laws into one title within the Code. H.R. 3237 and similar law revision bills are important because they ensure that the U.S. Code is up to date and accurate, without making substantive changes to the law. I am happy to support this legislation today.

I yield back the balance of my time.

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

I support H.R. 1107, a bill proposed by the Office of Law Revision Counsel to update, improve, and for clarification of title 41 of the U.S. Code.

Mr. Speaker, this, as the other speaker said, is, in fact, a very technical correction. The minority fully supports it, believes it is necessary.

It passed on March 14 out of the Judiciary Committee unanimously on a voice vote.

I yield back the balance of my time.