Floor Statements

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on H.R. 2608.

Mr. Speaker, pursuant to the resolution just adopted, I call up the bill (H.R. 2608) to provide for an additional temporary extension of programs under the Small Business Act and the Small Business Investment Act of 1958, and for other purposes, with the Senate amendment thereto, and have a motion at the desk.

I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, I rise tonight to bring to the floor the continuing appropriations resolution to keep the Federal Government operating until November 18, 2011. Before you is a slightly amended version of the bill, which is necessary after last night's vote. I hope that my colleagues recognize the urgency of this situation and will join me in taking the responsible step and support this CR.

This bill must pass if we're going to keep our word to the American people. We need to get help to Americans who need it most, those who have lost their homes and their businesses to the unforgiving natural disasters that have beset us.

FEMA is rapidly burning through its emergency funding and its ability to help those people recover from the tornados, hurricanes, earthquakes, wildfires and other disasters.

Right now, at this minute, FEMA has $200 million left in the coffer. They're spending at the rate of $30 million a day for disaster relief. And at this rate, of course, they will be out of money over the weekend.

This infusion of funding--$1 billion in emergency fiscal year 2011 disaster funding and $2.65 billion for fiscal 2012--is critical. I can't stress that enough. And it will go far to relieve the burdens of those who are in need tonight.

This version of the bill creates an additional offset to the fiscal year 2011 emergency funding. In addition to the $1.5 billion offset from the vehicle loan program, we are rescinding $100 million from the Innovative Technology Loan Guarantee Program, a section of the failed Stimulus Act that funded the now-bankrupt company Solyndra.

The CR also continues government operations at a rate of $1.043 trillion. That's the amount agreed to by the Congress and the White House in August as part of the debt ceiling compromise, and it is on the law books of the country. This reduced responsible rate will help restore our Nation's fiscal health.

It is vital that Congress pass this legislation as swiftly as possible. We must prevent a government shutdown, and we have to replenish exhaustive disaster recovery funds which will dry up over the weekend. And just as importantly, we need time to complete work on the fiscal year 2012 appropriations legislation so we can avoid the uncertainty and instability that we saw last year when it took us until April to complete full-year appropriations legislation.

I urge my colleagues to vote for this bill, not only to keep the government running, but also to help the hundreds of thousands of Americans relying on us to get them back on their feet all across the country.

I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Wolf), the distinguished chairman of the Commerce, Justice, Science Subcommittee on Appropriations.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Alabama (Mr. Aderholt), chairman of the Homeland Security Subcommittee on Appropriations.

I yield 3 minutes, Mr. Speaker, to the chairman of the Interior appropriations subcommittee, the gentleman from Idaho (Mr. Simpson).

Will the gentleman yield?

Is Solyndra part of the revolution that the gentleman is talking about?

I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Diaz-Balart) a valued member of our committee.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to a valued member of our committee, the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Dent).

I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Arkansas (Mr. Womack), a hardworking member of our committee and a newcomer to the Congress.

May I inquire of the time remaining?

I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Mississippi (Mr. Nunnelee), a member of the committee.

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

This really is a simple bill. It's merely a bridge to get us until November the 18th to continue the government basically as is until that time, to get us time to work with the Senate to put together the funding for all of fiscal 2012. Norm Dicks and I started out this year agreeing that we wanted to restore regular order to the Appropriations Committee and the process. And we've worked in that regard. The committee has dealt with 11 of the 12 appropriations bills. Six of them you've had a chance on the floor to amend and pass, which you have.

Unfortunately, our brethren across the Capitol have been a little bit slow, and they passed one bill, which necessitated that we do something to continue the government while we try to work with them to bring them along on their bills and fund fiscal 2012.

This bill started out as a bipartisan bill. We worked to make it so. But along the way, on the eve of the bill, all of a sudden we were confronted with a partisan attack from this side of the aisle, and we had no choice but to respond. But still yet this is a bipartisanly constructed bill. It doesn't attack anyone.

The Homeland Security bill that passed the body, you will recall, carried the provision that required that the billion dollars in that bill for FEMA would be offset from the automobile account that's been discussed. That passed this body in a bipartisan vote. Many Democrats voted for it, joined Republicans. No one raised a concern--until this bill came to the floor. And all of a sudden, there was this great eruption of partisanship on that side of the aisle, which I am very sad about.

But we will muddle through. This is a good bill. It funds your government at the level that was agreed to by the parties in the House, Senate, and White House, the level that is now the law. It funds us until November 18. And by then we hope to have worked out with our Senate brethren and sisters the funding for the rest of fiscal 2012.

So, the hour is late. Time is short. We've made up our minds. Let's vote.

Mr. Speaker, I send to the desk a concurrent resolution and ask unanimous consent for its immediate consideration.

I thank the gentleman for yielding.

As to the point, Mr. Speaker, of whether or not we offset these emergency bills, over the last 10 years, we have used offsets in over half of the emergency spending bills and supplementals, over half, 15 of 30, actually, including war supplementals, emergency supplementals, military construction, defense supplementals, disaster relief and recovery, in 2008, for example, and on and on.

Using offsets to pay for disaster relief is the rule here. This is not an exception. And we're only offsetting $1 billion of it. In fact, when the Homeland Security bill passed a few months ago, it included this very offset, and the bill passed by bipartisan support throughout the body. You've already voted for this, and, I might add, successfully.

Now, on that green car fund--I'm going to call it that--there's over $4 billion this minute sitting idle in that account, and it's been sitting idle for 3 years. The $1.5 billion rescission in subsidies we propose will not have a significant impact on the program, contrary to what some people say. All applications for those loans in late-term stages and negotiations will not be affected. Talk to the agency downtown, which we have. They will not be affected.

The factory in Michigan or Indiana will not be affected. In total, eight pending applications for loan guarantees totaling over $6 billion will not be impacted by this offset. Michigan has the largest stake: four applications totaling $4.7 billion in loan guarantees, which are free and clear.

Other States with applications in the queue that are safe from this round of cuts include Indiana and Louisiana.

Now, Mr. Speaker, this bill contains $3.65 billion for immediate disaster relief, which our people need and deserve. As this bill works its way through the process until November 18, no doubt FEMA will have by then completed their surveys and investigations of disasters and can tell Congress, through the White House, how much more money is needed; and we'll provide it. It's covered in the debt ceiling bill that passed this body a few weeks ago.

I'm telling you the Appropriations Committee will provide whatever relief is required when we get the documentation, which is traditional, as all of the Members of this body know because they helped prepare those investigations.

So this is a clean bill. This merely extends the time for us to work with the Senate to perfect a continuing bill for the balance of 2012. It gives us 5 or 6 weeks, but only 3 or 4 of those weeks will be available because both bodies will not be here all that time. This is a clean bill. And it provides disaster relief in the appropriate way. And there's plenty of money there for the immediate needs that we've been told about by FEMA.

Mr. Speaker, I urge the adoption of the rule and the underlying bill.

Let me just reiterate.

The $1 billion in the fiscal '11 portion of this bill is two times the amount the President requested. We doubled it. The amount that's in the bill for fiscal 2012, $2.65 billion, is more than the initial request that was made to us by the White House. We're here to tell you--and I've repeated this now four times--whatever the amount is needed that we see FEMA coming to us requesting, we're going to provide. Now, we've got until November 18 by this extension, by this CR, and during that period of time we will get the documentation from the White House and from FEMA about additional funds that are requested.

I assure the gentleman from New York who spoke, your concerns will be addressed during these next few weeks, and the money will be there that's documented from the White House and from FEMA for disaster relief. We will not let our people hurt.

Will the gentleman yield?

Thank you for yielding.

The previous speaker doesn't understand the bill. The $2.65 billion in the 2012 portion of the bill is not offset, only the portion for fiscal 2011 is required to be offset. And I would remind the gentleman, as well as everyone else, many of whom voted for the Homeland Security bill a few months ago, it included this provision.

The disaster relief money, twice what the President requested of us, we doubled his request. That part is offset, the fiscal 2011 moneys, but the bulk of the money in this bill, the $2.65 billion for fiscal 2012, it's not offset. So the gentleman is incorrect.

I thank the gentleman for yielding again. I'll be very brief.

The gentlewoman who just spoke mentioned Katrina and that we should not offset expenses of emergency disaster spending. In fact, in 2006 that's exactly what we did do. We required offsets for aid for Katrina and other matters, $33.5 billion in offsets in Katrina aid in 2006. And then again in 2007, we offset $939 million in offsets for, among other things, Hurricane Katrina recovery.

As I have said before, over the last 10 years, we have offset more than half of

the disaster emergency relief bills we have passed here. It's not unusual, and the gentlelady is mistaken that we did not request offsets for Katrina. We did.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on H.R. 2608.

Mr. Speaker, pursuant to House Resolution 405, I call up the bill (H.R. 2608) to provide for an additional temporary extension of programs under the Small Business Act and the Small Business Investment Act of 1958, and for other purposes, with the Senate amendment thereto, and have a motion at the desk.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to bring to the floor the continuing appropriations resolution to keep the Federal Government operating until November 18 of this year. For procedural reasons, this is being done as an amendment to the Senate amendment to H.R. 2608 to speed passage through the Senate, at their request; but in substance, this is the same as the continuing resolution, H.J. Res. 79, that I introduced on September 14.

This CR, Mr. Speaker, will give Congress the time needed to complete fiscal year 2012 appropriations and to adequately fund vital government programs and services by working to put Federal spending on a more sustainable course. Just as significantly, this bill provides desperately needed funding for disaster recovery and relief.

I would have preferred to have completed the appropriations process in regular order, and I believe the House made great strides in doing so. The Appropriations Committee moved on 11 of the 12 annual appropriations bills, and six bills have cleared the House; but we still need time to collaborate with our colleagues in the Senate in order to complete this work, and a short-term bill will allow us to do so.

As we saw last year and into the spring, the threat of a government shutdown causes dangerous economic instability, and at this precarious time, we need to bolster American public confidence that their representatives in Washington are working for them and are not letting politics come before people.

The CR continues government operations at a rate of $1.043 trillion-- the total amount agreed to by the Congress and the White House in the Budget Control Act. It's clean of most policy provisions to ensure swift passage, but we've provided small changes for safety, security, and continuity of essential programs.

For instance, we've extended Federal flood insurance availability and the availability of defense survival equipment for our troops abroad. In addition, this CR will help meet the needs of the thousands of families, businesses, and communities burdened by recent natural disasters by providing an immediate $1 billion in emergency 2011 funding now as well as an additional $2.65 billion for the next year. We are helping our citizens get back on their feet.

The $776 million in the bill for the FEMA Disaster Relief Fund, which is $276 million more than the President or the Senate proposed, is time-sensitive and critical. That fund is now below $250 million and is running out of money fast. Unless we provide additional funding, within a matter of days the Disaster Relief Fund will soon be empty, leaving millions of people in the lurch.

The $1 billion in emergency funding for fiscal year 2011 has been offset by a cut to the Department of Energy's Advanced Technology Vehicle Manufacturing loan program, which has more than $4 billion in unspent idle funds in the pipeline. It has been there for 3 years. Now is the time to use those idle dollars for true and immediate purposes: aiding our fellow citizens in their times of greatest need as they cope with the aftermath of wildfires, tornadoes, earthquakes, and hurricanes--an unprecedented string of disasters in this country.

Now, the notion of offsetting emergency spending has gotten a lot of attention as of late. Let me be very clear that offsetting emergency spending is not a unique practice. In fact, over the last 10 years, the Congress has used offsets in at least 15 of 30 emergency supplemental spending bills--half of them. In total, the Congress has passed over $60 billion in emergency offsets in the last 10 years, most of which had a large amount of support on both sides of the aisle, including the support of former Speaker Pelosi.

The loan program used as an offset in this bill has had excess funds for years, and taking the money will not negatively affect that program. All entities in final loan stages will still get the funding they've worked for. Furthermore, this offset is identical to the one already passed by the House in June as part of the Homeland Security appropriations bill. We've already voted for it.

In addition, the committee will continue to consider additional disaster funding over the next few weeks as we bring the fiscal year 2012 appropriations process to a close, hopefully by November 18, including reviewing estimates that are still coming in from recent disasters so that families and communities can get the assistance they need while making sure that every dollar is well spent.

The Budget Control Act, which both Houses in Congress and the White House agreed to, provides for 2012 disaster funding in that capacity. But with respect to this continuing resolution, at this time we do not have all of the necessary information on the cost of the recent disasters nor the time to work out a final comprehensive agreement with the White House and the Senate.

As Members of this body know, back in their home districts, the FEMA administration works to survey the damage and report that to the White House who, in turn, makes the request to Congress for disaster funds. That's the normal procedure in which we are involved now, and I assure the Members that, as we get those estimates from the White House in the next few weeks and months, they will be addressed and monies will be available.

Therefore, we must meet the most immediate need and provide additional funding now for FEMA to keep that program going for the next several months. That's what this continuing resolution does and why we, the House and Senate, have to pass this bill immediately.

This CR lives up to the guidelines set in the Budget Control Act, as well as our commitment to responsible and reduced levels of spending. We can ride our fiscal ship while still supporting the essential government programs and services and disaster aid.

With this in mind, it is my intention that Congress complete the fiscal year 2012 appropriations work without any further delay. The sooner we pass this CR, the sooner we can focus on this long-term appropriations legislation and get it done before November 18.

I urge my colleagues in both Chambers to support this bill so we can send it to the President as soon as possible.

I reserve the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, I yield myself 2 minutes.

The gentleman mentioned in his statement that we had not used offsets to fund disaster relief; I beg to differ. In 2001, emergency supplemental, offset; 2002, emergency supplemental, offset; 2004, disaster relief for wildfire and others, offset. And in 2005, offset for relief for the tsunami. In 2006, relief for Katrina, offset. In 2008, disaster relief and recovery, $20 billion in offsets. I could go on. There are many times where we have used the offsets to pay for supplementals. In fact, over the last 10 years, 15 of the 30 emergency spending bills and supplementals were offset, for a total of $60 billion over the last 10 years.

Now, on this offset that has been mentioned, over $4 billion sits idle in that account and has so for 3 years now as the administration has been slow to obligate that money. The $1.5 billion rescission in subsidies we propose will not have a significant impact on the program. This is the same rescission, Madam Speaker, that we used in the 2012 Homeland Security appropriations bill that passed this House with bipartisan support in June. Exactly the same. And yet the Senate didn't act and that billion dollars was not available for disaster relief.

States with applications in the queue in this program, like Indiana, Louisiana, Ohio, Michigan, Florida, Missouri, California and many others, will still receive their due diligence just like before and could receive awards as well.

I reserve the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Alabama (Mr. Aderholt), chair of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Homeland Security.

Will the gentleman yield?

The gentleman is the chair of the Homeland Security Subcommittee which funds FEMA.

Now, you passed a bill back in June that provided $1 billion for FEMA for disaster relief; is that right?

What happened to that bill?

I mean, after it passed the House.

And what happened then?

Nothing has taken place in the Senate since June?

And your bill would have provided $1 billion today for disaster relief, and the other body hasn't acted?

No wonder they're operating on fumes.

I'm talking about FEMA.

I thank the gentleman for yielding.

I yield 3 minutes to the distinguished chairman of the Subcommittee on Foreign Operations of Appropriations, the gentlelady from Texas (Ms. Granger).

Madam Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to a very hardworking member of our committee, the gentleman from Oklahoma (Mr. Cole).

I yield the gentleman an additional 30 seconds.

Madam Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the distinguished chair of the Legislative Branch Appropriations Subcommittee, the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Crenshaw).

Madam Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the distinguished chair of the Labor-HHS Subcommittee, the gentleman from Montana (Mr. Rehberg).

Will the gentleman yield?

Does the gentleman realize that back in June, in this body we passed, with bipartisan support, the Homeland Security bill, which contained $1 billion for FEMA, sent it to the Senate, and it's been laying there for the last 3 months? Did the gentleman know that?

I thank the gentleman for yielding.

Madam Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the very hardworking chair of the Interior subcommittee on appropriations, the gentleman whose subcommittee held more hearings than any other, I think 22 different hearings--we had 150 committee-wide, but he won the award for the most hearings--the gentleman from Idaho (Mr. Simpson).

I yield 2 minutes to a very hardworking member of our committee, the gentleman from Alabama (Mr. Bonner).

I yield 2 minutes to a new member of our committee who's doing a great job, from the State of Arkansas, Steve Womack.

I yield myself the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, this is a simple bill. This is a simple continuation of spending until November 18.

I would not want it on my record that I voted against helping the postal workers keep their routes until November 18. We take care of that problem in this bill. I wouldn't want to vote ``no'' on that if I could help it.

I wouldn't want to vote ``no'' to refuse to continue the government and all that the government does. I wouldn't want it on my record that I voted against helping people who are flooded, the subject of wildfires, earthquakes and all other sorts of calamities. A vote of ``no'' on this bill says no other help for those people.

Now, the gentlewoman who just preceded me, the former Speaker of the House, says that we should not use offsets to pay for at least a portion of these disaster funds. In fact, while the gentlewoman was Speaker of this House, we did just that.

We voted to offset the funding for Hurricane Katrina in 2006 and 2007. We voted for offsets for disaster relief in 2008, 2009; and, lastly, in 2010 we voted to offset $10 billion for what was called the Pelosi edu-jobs stimulus bill. The gentlewoman voted for that offset.

So I urge you to vote for this bill. We will have plenty of time during the negotiations with the Senate during the next 6 weeks to take into account the additional bills we are going to get for flooding and other disaster relief, and we will take care of the problem between now and then.

Vote ``yes'' on the bill.

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

I rise today to commend this bill to our colleagues and urge that it be passed. It includes $27.5 billion in Federal spending. That's a reduction of $2.1 billion below last year, $3.8 billion below the President's request.

Some have complained that these cuts are too much, too fast. But it's important to remember that these agencies and programs have seen unprecedented massive increases in spending in recent years. This sort of excess has contributed to our astronomical debt and is threatening our recovery. We simply can't fund unnecessary and ineffective programs when we are borrowing 42 cents on every dollar we spend. We just simply can't afford it.

This legislation makes smart, significant cuts across each and every agency funded by this bill. The bill still adequately funds the agencies that are important to the health of our citizens, the stability of our economy, and the preservation of our environment, but we've made some priority adjustments in areas that can and should withstand lower budgets.

Some areas that will see bigger reductions include climate change programs, which are trimmed 22 percent from last year, and land acquisition funding, which is at a level nearly 79 percent lower than last year.

Frankly, many of the cuts in this bill are just plain common sense, particularly when it comes to the Environmental Protection Agency. The reductions and provisions in this bill were made with very good reason--to rein in unparalleled, out-of-control spending and job- killing overregulation by the EPA.

Though we all appreciate the core mission of the EPA, this agency has lost grips with economic reality and has become the epitome of the continued and damaging regulatory overreach of this administration. We can't allow an agency to circumvent the authority of Congress, especially when it has such destructive effects on our Nation's economic recovery.

I'd like to say that we've heard from Americans all across the country and across every sector of the economy who attribute harsh regulatory burdens to their economic uncertainty, uncertainty that's crushing job growth.

It's my hope that this legislation sends the message loud and clear: Legislation by regulation must stop. We've restricted funding for EPA personnel, as well as addressed EPA's flawed greenhouse gas regulations and de facto moratorium on mining permits in Appalachia. It's my hope that provisions like these will return the EPA to a better working order, facilitating a more effective government, sending money where it really needs to go, and removing burdensome barriers to job creation to clear the way for economic recovery.

Mr. Chairman, I want to thank Chairman Simpson and Ranking Member Moran, the subcommittee, and all of the staff for all their hard work on this very tough bill. Chairman Simpson has led the way on an excellent bill, I think, that makes good on our promise to reduce government spending with real significant spending reforms.

His subcommittee, Mr. Chairman, held 22 oversight hearings, more than any other of the 12 subcommittees on Appropriations. I'm confident that they've gone above and beyond their duty to ensure that these cuts come from wasteful and redundant programs. I know these decisions were not made lightly, were not made easy, but they are responsible, and will help us move in the right direction.

Although it's been difficult at times, the House should be proud to be moving this year's appropriations process in regular order, the first time in years. With this bill we will have finished more than half of the fiscal 12 appropriation bills before the recess. And nearly all of the bills have been moved through subcommittee or full committee, and therefore are on cue to come to the full body. This return to regular order has contributed to thoughtful, collaborative appropriations bills that reflect the will of the American people and will help get our Nation's finances in order.

I urge my colleagues to support this bill.

I thank the chairman for yielding the time.

I rise today to commend H.R. 2551, the fiscal year 2012 appropriations act for the legislative branch.

Mr. Chairman, this is the sixth appropriations bill that we will have passed through the House out of 12 bills that will be considered. Three more of the 12 bills are waiting, queued up to come before the House. But this is the sixth. This will make us halfway through the appropriations bills for 2012.

I want to commend Chairman Crenshaw and Mr. Honda for their hard work and the blood-curdling decisions they've had to make, because this bill deals with our colleagues and us and the operation of this body that we all love. This bill will help stop government overspending starting in our own backyards. If we're trying to get back on a more sustainable course, we've got to cut spending wherever we can, and we've got to make due with less. Our constituents asked us to get our own fiscal house in order, and we're leading by example with this legislation.

This legislation prioritizes the safety of the thousands of people who work in and visit the Capitol Complex every day, providing essential funding for the Capitol Police, services for our visitors, and necessary maintenance. But we are keeping to our commitment to reduce spending, and so we've cut back in other areas. We've trimmed the House leadership, Member, and committee budgets by over 6 percent. This legislation provides smaller budgets for our own offices and continues our goal of reducing spending across the entire Federal Government.

To demonstrate my commitment to savings and to prove the feasibility of reduced budgets, earlier this year, we directed that my very own committee, the Appropriations Committee, cut its budget not by the 5 percent that all other committees cut. We said, We'll see your 5 percent and ask for 4 more; and we cut our budget by 9 percent. And this bill continues that reduction, trimming another 6.4 percent. So since January of this year, the Appropriations Committee, when this bill is finished, will have cut its own budget by some 15.4 percent. Just as American families are forced to live within their means, their Representatives in Washington should do the same.

I understand that many of my colleagues are concerned about what these cuts might mean for their own offices. I know making these hard decisions will not be easy for them, just as they were not easy for us to make in the first place. But these cuts are necessary. We can't ask everyone else to make cuts to their budgets and not do the same to ourselves. We all have to share in the sacrifice during this financial crisis, and I'm proud that we're doing our part to help our Nation dig itself out of dangerous job-killing debt so that we can get our economy back on track.

Again, I want to commend Chairman Crenshaw and Ranking Member Honda and their staffs on a strong bill that makes these responsible reductions, and I urge our colleagues to support the legislation.

I thank the gentleman for yielding.

I thank Chairman Frelinghuysen and Mr. Visclosky for the hard, super effort. This has not been an easy bill, to say the least. And you've stayed with it, you have written a good bill, and you have, I think, defended a good bill. There have been amendments that have passed at least on voice vote that I think helped the bill.

I want to remind Members that this bill normally in past years has been one of the homes of earmarks. This bill was practically all earmarks in years past. And to the great credit of this subcommittee, you have not allowed any earmarks--not one--which is a remarkable achievement and merits the support, I think, of every single Member of this body.

Number two, we gave you a real tough 302(b) number to deal with. That I admit from the very beginning. We were trying to implement the budget that passed this House. And the allocation you received was very stingy. But you have, I think, done great credit to yourselves and to the rest of us by using that limited allocation and stretched it out as far as you could stretch it. And I think you've got a good bill.

In fact, the numbers in this bill are going back to 2006 levels.

Will the gentleman continue to yield?

You've gone back to the 2006 levels, which is a huge cut in spending. So you've done your share of helping us get the Nation's fiscal house back in order. And I want to thank my colleague, Mr. Dicks, who at the very outset of this year agreed with me in toto that we would get this committee back into regular order, and he is living up to that every day since that time. So thank you, Mr. Dicks, for doing a great job.

And I want to thank these two, the chairman and ranking member of this subcommittee. They have been a model of civility and working together for a common cause. Thanks for a great job.

Mr. Chairman, this is a great bill. It's a model of fiscal restraint. I can attest to the fact that the committee has taken a long, hard look at each and every line in this bill to make sure that we are getting the greatest value from each and every taxpayer dollar spent, cutting back funding for programs that are not operating up to par. This bill is also proof that we can make these commonsense spending reductions without damaging or impairing the programs that help keep our country safe and our citizens at work.

This legislation rightly appropriates taxpayer dollars where they should be, in programs that provide the greatest benefits to the American people and that get the economy moving again. This includes $30.6 billion for the Army Corps of Engineers, the Department of Energy and a host of independent agencies, including the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Now, that is $5.9 billion below the President's request; it's a billion dollars below current spending levels.

The Energy and Water appropriations bill funds important work that affects every community in every single one of our colleagues' districts. These are the quality-of-life programs that preserve our public safety and our economic competitiveness, including energy independence programs and national defense programs within the Department of Energy. This bill supports Army Corps construction projects, projects which are vital to national security and which are of a tangible impact on job creation.

But this year's bill is unlike any Energy and Water appropriations bill in recent memory, or perhaps even in history, in one major way. Some of our colleagues and critics were no doubt wondering how we could write this bill under the earmark moratorium, but I am proud that we have been able to craft a responsible bill that funds projects across the Nation without one single earmark. By doing so, we have made the process much more transparent, requiring that organizations like the Corps provide an outline of how, when, and why they are spending precious Federal dollars while maintaining the constitutionally mandated congressional authority over budget decisions. We have retained the power of the purse and strict oversight of these agencies.

On the subject of oversight, I would like particularly to note that $35 million is included to continue the Yucca Mountain review process. The committee has supported these efforts for years, and I am relieved to see that the rest of Congress is finally beginning to see the light and support this program and to realize the extent to which the administration's position ignores good science and wastes billions of taxpayer dollars.

While providing the vital funding for our Nation's energy and water programs, the bill abides by the committee's promise, and my promise as chairman, that we would cut spending wherever and whenever we can.

I must commend Chairman Frelinghuysen and the subcommittee members and staff and the ranking member who have worked so closely together on this bill. They have found the significant spending reductions in areas that seem excessive and unnecessary increases, and in these accounts with large unspent balances. This is the responsible and serious way to get our budgets back into balance and to help keep us on track toward economic recovery.

Again, I want to thank Mr. Visclosky and Chairman Frelinghuysen for doing a great job in bringing a bill to the floor under difficult circumstances. They work collegially and they work intelligently together, and I want to particularly thank the subcommittee staff on both sides of the aisle for their tireless effort putting together this legislation.

Mr. Chairman, this is a good bill that all of us can support, and I urge that we do just that.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to a world class hospital and the American Alliance of Healthcare Providers' 2010-2011 ``Hospital of the Year,'' Pikeville Medical Center.

Each year, the American Alliance of Healthcare Providers selects a recipient of its hospital of the year award. This year, Pikeville Medical Center became the Nation's only repeat winner over hundreds of applicants from across the country. I am proud to report that this top notch institution in the heart of Eastern Kentucky was judged to be the nation's most patient friendly hospital.

This distinguished honor truly reflects an unwavering commitment to world class treatment by every one of Pikeville Medical Center's over 2,000 employees and 250 physicians. The honor of being named ``Hospital of the Year'' for the second consecutive year is simply the latest example of the Pikeville Medical Center's stellar reputation among its peers and fellow medical professionals; in fact, the hospital has been named the #1 hospital to work for in Kentucky in Best Places To Work for three straight years, and has been nationally recognized for best practices and outstanding doctors by numerous organizations. Needless to say, the Pikeville Medical Center is clearly committed to their noble mission of being a ``quality, regional health care in a Christian environment.''

For 86 years, Pikeville Medical Center has served as a beacon of healing for the people of Pike County, Kentucky and the surrounding regions. Since its humble beginnings in 1924, the hospital has expanded numerous times to meet regional needs. Today, the Medical Center complex boasts many specialties and services such as its award winning cancer center, state-of-the-art Diagnostic Equipment, 4-D Echocardiograms, a cardiac rehabilitation center, a sleep studies laboratory, and a neonatal intensive care unit. The Pikeville Medical Center has also fashioned a teaching program that is second to none and will ensure that our talented young medical professionals will not have to leave Eastern Kentucky to learn and develop their skills.

Mr. Speaker, I ask my colleagues to join me in honoring a fine example of patient care and community wellness, the Pikeville Medical Center. I congratulate the Center on this latest achievement and wish the employees and hospital leadership many more years of success.

I thank Chairman Young for yielding me this time.

And thank you and your other partner, this dynamic duo that we have here between Chairman Young and Chairman Dicks. Thank you for your good work.

The nearly $649 billion in total funding within this bill will provide our Armed Forces with the resources they need for the Nation's missions abroad and the protection of our people here at home.

This bill sustains our military readiness, facilitating the continued modernization of our national defense systems and preserving the American Armed Forces as the greatest military in the world.

As our soldiers and marines continue to put their lives on the line to eliminate terrorism and protect freedom around the globe, Congress must provide the necessary support and funding to keep them safe and well equipped, and we must do so in a timely manner.

These efforts include adequate funding for equipment procurement, base operations, and military pay. To improve our defense capabilities and prepare for future challenges, we've provided funding for research and development into new technology.

This legislation also provides essential funding for health and quality-of-life programs for the men and women of the armed services and their families.

But, as in all of our appropriations bills, this year especially, this legislation reflects hard decisions to cut lower-priority programs, reduce spending in programs that can be scaled back, and target funds where they're needed most so that our Nation can continue on the path to fiscal recovery.

No bill, no Department, including the Pentagon, should be immune from scrutiny during these precarious financial times. This legislation identifies fiscally responsible savings, savings that will in no way impair the safety or effectiveness of our troops, the success of our military operations, or our military readiness.

The bill also increases oversight of Defense programs and funds to ensure that tax dollars are being spent wisely and efficiently. We've taken a critical eye and increased scrutiny on some programs to ensure American taxpayers are receiving the proper benefits for their defense investments.

I want to thank, again, Chairman Young and Ranking Member Dicks for their tireless work. In fact, it's a very bipartisan spirit and commitment, and that's the rule of this subcommittee over the decades of time, and their commitment to crafting a very responsible Defense bill. And of course the staff has worked tirelessly to make this day possible.

Mr. Chairman, I urge all of our colleagues to support this bill. It's a good one.

Will the gentleman yield?

I welcome my colleague's comments. However, I think the gentleman has a misunderstanding about the content of that provision. The provision in the manager's bill states that no moneys can be diverted from the fee collections. All of

the fees have to stay with the Patent Office. It has to be reprogrammed.

Will the gentleman yield?

The gentleman may not be aware, but we have long had a practice on the Appropriations Committee of reprogramming funds within an agency's budget. All of the agencies have problems during the year where they need to change moneys from one particular account to another. That's fine. But they have to come to the Appropriations Committee for a reprogramming request. It's routine, it's considered normal, and it does not require an act of Congress. It's simply the signature of the chairman and the ranking Democrat of the Appropriations Committee, and the moneys are transferred.

When the Patent Office collects fees that exceed its appropriated level, that amount of money is placed in a sort of escrow account, just for their purposes, just for their use. If they see the need for more funds, they simply send up another reprogramming request, and the moneys can be transferred from the escrow account to the Patent Office. It's a standard procedure.

The gentleman is not correct. This provision in the manager's amendment precludes the expenditure of this escrow account for any purpose other than Patent Office. It's in the manager's amendment, and the gentleman will have a chance to vote on it.

I thank the chairman for yielding the time and congratulate him and Mr. Farr on producing, I think, a good bill.

The bill answers the call from Americans to reduce government spending while still providing for critical programs that keep American agriculture competitive in a global economy. The $125.5 billion in both discretionary and mandatory funding in this bill will help our rural communities to thrive, provide daily nutrition to children and families, and keep our food and drug supply safe.

However, we can't spend at the rate we used to. We've hit the debt ceiling. We're borrowing more than 42 cents on every dollar we spend. We're mortgaging our children's futures. We have to rein in spending, even if it may not be the most popular thing to do.

Accordingly, Chairman Kingston and his subcommittee did not provide the agencies and programs funded by this bill with carte blanche. This bill trims lower priority services, eliminates duplicative and wasteful programs, and limits funding and increases oversight for agencies that have been less than transparent with taxpayer money. All in all, this bill cuts nearly $5 billion in discretionary spending from the President's request.

With this legislation, we are helping to put the Department of Agriculture, the FDA, and the other agencies funded by this bill back on a sustainable budget path that is accountable to the taxpayers of this country. In addition, more than taking the first steps to help balance our budgets, we're taking the necessary steps to increase transparency.

Not only does this legislation encourage, but it requires, each and every agency to submit spending plans for every program funded by this bill. This commonsense oversight will go a long way in demonstrating to the American public our commitment to fiscal responsibility.

I am confident not only that Chairman Kingston and his subcommittee have made the smart, but necessary, cuts in this bill to help balance our budgets but also that this bill adequately funds important government programs, including ag research, rural health and economic development, and safety net food and nutrition services.

I want to commend the chairman, the ranking member, the subcommittee members, and the staff all for their dedicated and thoughtful work on this bill, and I urge support in its final passage.

I move to strike the last word.

Mr. Chairman, for those who want to be sure that we send away from our borders illegal aliens who are criminals, they surely would understand that the 287(g) program gives us a hugely better opportunity to do that.

We've got a few thousand ICE agents, Border Patrol agents, doing a wonderful job, and they are dedicated public servants; but there are so few of them, relatively speaking, to deal with the millions of illegals crossing our borders, many of whom are here in a criminal nature. A few thousand Federal agents. By working with local law enforcement, we can multiply that by hundreds of thousands of enforcers of America's laws, and we can get rid of the criminal aliens in this country. That's what 287(g) empowers localities to do.

Now, it is entirely up to the local communities. If they don't want to participate in the 287(g) program and receive funds from the Federal Government to train their local officials on how to enforce the Federal law, it's their choice. They don't have to do it. We don't make them do it. It's purely a local option. Many communities have. However, if they want to and if they decide to seek Federal assistance, it is there for them through this program to help train their local officials. We need to better empower States and localities, and through this program, that's exactly what we do.

Everyone admits we are failing to protect our borders. There is a consensus around that. We have not protected America's borders yesterday, today or probably tomorrow. The reason we can't do it is that we are outnumbered, and there is just not the Federal manpower to stop it. If you're going to want to try to stop it, particularly keep criminal aliens out, I don't understand why you would not want to gain some extra help from the local law enforcement officers, properly trained under this program and financed. I don't understand that.

In 1996, this section was added as an amendment to the Immigration and Nationality Act for the express purpose to provide necessary immigration enforcement assistance to State and local law enforcement entities. It authorizes the department to enter into agreements with State and local law enforcement, equipping them through thorough training to perform important immigration enforcement functions. Local law enforcement agencies that are closest to the problem are more threatened by the criminality involved, and have more motivation to try to stop the criminal activity flowing across the border.

To date, the ICE agency has trained more than 1,240 State and local officers nationwide pursuant to this program. Since 2006, the 287(g) program has, according to ICE, resulted in the identification of more than 200,300 potentially removable aliens, mostly at local jails. Law enforcement agencies participate in the program in 24 different States: Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Maryland, Minnesota, Missouri, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, and Virginia. Those States say to keep this program in place because it's helping us keep criminal aliens out of our local communities--no longer selling drugs to our kids, no longer engaging in any criminal activity in their communities.

So I urge the defeat of this amendment. This program works. It is the only program that has allowed us to engage tens of thousands of local law enforcement officers to help with this consuming problem we have with criminal aliens.

I yield back the balance of my time.

I thank the chairman for yielding me this time.

I want to, at the outset, congratulate him on a great job on this bill. He and his terrific staff have worked long and hard, along with the subcommittee members, to produce, I think, a star of a bill.

So, on your maiden voyage, Mr. Chairman, congratulations on a good job.

To Mr. Bishop and the minority members of the subcommittee, including my distinguished cohort, Mr. Dicks, the ranking on the full committee, we've all worked together on this, and we appreciate the collegial atmosphere, as Mr. Bishop has said, that has governed this proceeding.

I rise in support of this act. Colleagues on both sides of the aisle agree that our Nation's servicemembers, their families and our veterans deserve the greatest quality of care and support for their service and their sacrifices. This bill funds their most pressing needs in a timely manner while also acknowledging the urgent need to rein in Federal spending at a time of historically high and dangerous deficits.

This legislation provides $72.5 billion in discretionary funding for military construction projects, veterans' programs and other agencies that support the quality of life of our warfighters, veterans and families. This funding level represents a $615 million cut from last year's level and a $1.2 billion reduction from the budgetary request.

The bill fully funds the construction of Department of Defense hospitals and clinics, schools and family housing, providing our military personnel with the resources to effectively advance U.S. missions abroad and the support they need here at home. The bill also protects the health and well-being of our veterans, funding medical care, disability benefits and education benefits.

But in addition to adequately funding these programs, the subcommittee also made difficult but responsible choices that eliminate excess spending wherever appropriate. Much of the reduction in this bill comes from savings related to the BRAC process and from rescissions of previous year funding left over from lower-than- estimated construction costs. The bill also includes provisions for strong oversight overspending.

Mr. Chairman, cleaning up the way we spend taxpayer dollars will help balance our Nation's budgets, and will show the American taxpayers that we can be trusted with their hard-earned money. We can't restrict cuts to only some areas of government. All agencies and programs must be held accountable to tighter budgets with more stringent supervision.

Chairman Culberson and members of this subcommittee have shown great fiscal restraint and a commitment to real savings in reducing the discretionary spending in this bill below the 2011 levels while providing the resources our troops and our vets deserve.

So, again, I want to congratulate Chairman Culberson, Ranking Member Bishop, all the members of the subcommittee, and my ranking partner, Mr. Dicks, for their great work on this bill. Of course, I want to again say how much we appreciate the work of this fine staff, both on the minority and majority levels. Great work.

Mr. Chairman, I believe this bill is an excellent representation of the good work that we can do in Congress when we work together, both as we support our troops and our veterans and as we work in regular order to fund our government responsibly. I urge my colleagues to support the bill.

I thank Chairman Aderholt for the time; but, more importantly, I thank him for the great work that he has done in perfecting this bill and bringing it to the floor, along with the accolades that have already been said about the staff and the other members of the subcommittee.

Mr. Chairman, I, of course, rise in support of this bill. When I became chairman of this committee, I promised to return to regular order, open rules, and the completion of as many appropriations bills as possible prior to the August recess; and I intend to stick by that promise. And I appreciate the

cooperation of my ranking member, Mr. Dicks, who has been very, very helpful in this process already. I look forward to an open amendment process and lively debate over the next several months.

I also vowed, Mr. Chairman, that we would cut spending wherever possible to help balance our budgets. The Appropriations Committee is dedicated to the careful stewardship of taxpayer dollars, and you will see that in each of the 12 bills we put out this year that will be a hallmark, careful stewardship of money.

We have had to make the most of our very limited resources in all areas of government, and that includes the Department of Homeland Security. We began this year with the Homeland Security appropriations bill because we can all agree that our national security is a number one priority. Every day our citizens worry about constant terrorist threats, the security of our air and seaports, and the defense of our borders; but we also face the very real dangers of uncontrolled spending and skyrocketing debt.

Americans deserve to live and work in a country that will protect not only their physical safety, but also their economic livelihood. This bill maintains the crucial measures that keep our citizens safe while also reining in out-of-control, dangerous deficit spending, providing $40.6 billion in total emergency spending for the various programs within DHS. This is a decrease of $1.1 billion below last year's level.

It funds the critical frontline personnel, operations and programs needed to uphold the highest levels of national security. Within this bill, we have bolstered our immigration and border security efforts, funded the maritime and security activities of the Coast Guard, and boosted security efforts to address air cargo threats.

The bill also addresses the President's overtly inadequate request for known disaster relief costs. It can be nearly impossible, in fact it is impossible, to plan for acts of God. But over the past few weeks, Mother Nature has wreaked havoc across our Midwest and South and other parts of the country, demonstrating the need for sufficient disaster relief funding.

I'm proud that we have added a billion dollars to the disaster relief fund while completely offsetting this increase by taking unused funding from the Department of Energy.

We've significantly reduced or eliminated ineffective and wasteful programs while requiring reforms in underperforming programs through heightened oversight to get the most out of each and every tax dollar. This includes long overdue reform on the State and local grant program under the Federal Emergency Management Agency, which has been plagued by inefficiency. These grants often remain in Federal coffers for years to come. Right now, as you've heard, there is a backlog of more than $13 billion in unspent grant funds. Why should we pack a clogged pipe, as Chairman Aderholt has said, at a time when we are strapped for money as we are.

This bill reduces funding for that program by $2.1 billion, changing the structure and requiring increased measurement and reporting, and getting the money out of the pipeline and into the hands of our first responders and our local communities and States.

There is no money for advanced inspection technology body scanners or the staff. It prohibits funds to transfer, release, or assist in the transfer of Guantanamo detainees to or within the U.S., and in accordance with the House rules, there are no earmarks in this bill.

The misleading budget request from the President for DHS included undefined and unspecified administrative savings and relied on $650 million of revenue from fees Congress has not approved. This bill follows both the spirit and the letter of the law that we must make real budget cuts, and that's what we do in this bill.

Madam Speaker, pursuant to House Resolution 218, I call up the bill (H.R. 1473) making appropriations for the Department of Defense and the other departments and agencies of the Government for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2011, and for other purposes, and ask for its immediate consideration.

Madam 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.R. 1473, and that I may include tabular material on the same.

I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Madam Speaker, I'm pleased to bring to the floor today H.R. 1473, the full year spending agreement for fiscal year 2011.

This final CR makes nearly $40 billion of real spending cuts compared to fiscal year 2010 levels while funding the government's critical services and programs and supporting our Nation's troops for the rest of this fiscal year.

After weeks of hard fought negotiations, all sides were able to come together in this final agreement to find common ground and take steps to help balance our budget.

This legislation is a bold move for Congress, one that points us in the right direction on Federal spending. Never before has any Congress made dramatic cuts such as these that are in this final bill.

The near $40 billion reduction in non-defense spending is tens of billions of dollars larger than any other cut in history and is the result of this new Republican majority's commitment to bring about real change in the way Washington spends the people's money.

My committee went line-by-line through agency budgets to execute the agreement reached by our Speaker crafting deep but responsible reductions in virtually all areas of government. Our bill targets wasteful and duplicative spending, makes strides to rein in out-of- control Federal bureaucracies, and will help bring our Nation one step closer to eliminating our job-crushing level of debt.

This led to the following cuts from the President's budget request: Agriculture accounts were reduced by 14 percent; Commerce, Justice, and Science reduced by 12 percent; Energy and Water reduced by 10 percent; Financial Services, General Government,

13 percent; Interior and Environment by 9 percent; Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, 8 percent; Legislative Branch, 11 percent cut; State and Foreign Operations, 15 percent cut; and Transportation and HUD, 19 percent cut.

The Department of Defense is funded at $513 billion, which is a $5 billion increase over fiscal year 2010 to provide the necessary resources for our troops and the success of our Nation's military actions.

In this bill, Madam Speaker, we've defunded Obama administration czars--we said, ``Nyet''--ended unsuccessful education programs, advanced efforts to repeal ObamaCare, and reduced Congress's own budget. We've also put into place mandatory audits for the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, banned taxpayer funding of abortion in Washington, D.C., and continued the global fight against terrorism.

In addition, with this legislation we have ended the stimulus spending spree and have taken the next step to cutting trillions of dollars in the years to come. We stood by our commitment to eliminate earmarks, terminated unnecessary and ineffective programs, and made real spending cuts that will help right our fiscal ship. And we will continue to hold the government to a standard of responsible, sustainable spending in the future.

Our goal is and has been to keep precious taxpayer dollars where they are needed most--in the hands of our small businesses and individuals so they can create jobs and grow our economy. I hope, Madam Speaker, that my colleagues will take the opportunity to support this historic bill and finally close the book on the fiscal year 2011 budget.

For those who have been saying in their career here in this body, ``I came here to cut spending and to bring down the size of the government,'' I say to them here's your chance. If you believe in cutting spending, you can vote for $40 billion of it today, the largest any Member of Congress has ever been able to vote for.

This is historic, a historic reduction in Federal spending after a 2- year spending spree that increased discretionary spending by 82 percent. This bill will reverse that rise and will start us back down toward responsible spending in the government.

Madam Speaker, before I close, I would like to take a moment and thank these hardworking individuals who have been toiling behind the scenes now on this bill for the last several months, with little fanfare, and they get no credit in public, that made this legislation possible. Our legislative counsels deserve our appreciation.

I want to say thanks to Ira Forstater, Tom Cassidy, Ryan Greenlaw, and their group of appropriations coordinators. I would like also to thank Janet Airis and the staff at the CBO. I also want to thank the floor staff, the parliamentarians, the Capitol Police, and all those support staff who have put in the extra hours to keep this institution running at its very best.

Finally, I want to offer a special thanks to the Appropriations Committee's fine staff on both sides of this aisle, those in our full committee, the subcommittee clerks, the subcommittee staffs in both majority and minority. They have been given impossible task after impossible task, facing untenable deadlines, gone for days and weeks working around the clock, and yet have miraculously produced all that we have asked of them and more.

I want to especially say a real thanks to the clerk of the committee, Bill Inglee; the deputy clerk, Will Smith; and all of the other staff that's worked on the majority side. And Mr. Dicks and his wonderful staff have been just magnanimous in their support and hard work. I want to say thank you to them as well.

I yield to the gentleman from Washington.

Well, they have hardly slept in 3 months. And they worked around the clock, on weekends, at 4 o'clock in the morning you would find them still there. It's an amazing performance that they have contributed to this great body.

I reserve the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the distinguished Speaker of the House, the gentleman from Ohio, who toiled long and hard to bring us the largest spending cut in the history of the country, Speaker John Boehner.

Madam Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the chairman of the Defense Subcommittee on Appropriations, the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Young).

I yield 2 minutes to the distinguished gentleman from Virginia, Frank Wolf, who is chair of the Commerce, Justice, Science appropriations subcommittee.

I yield 2 minutes, Madam Speaker, to the distinguished chairman of the Energy and Water Subcommittee on Appropriations, the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Frelinghuysen).

Madam Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the distinguished chairman of the Homeland Security Subcommittee on Appropriations, the gentleman from Alabama (Mr. Aderholt).

I yield the gentleman an additional 30 seconds.

I yield 2 minutes to the distinguished gentlewoman from Missouri (Mrs. Emerson), chairwoman of the Financial Services Subcommittee on Appropriations.

I yield 1\1/2\ minutes to the distinguished chairman of the Military Construction and VA Subcommittee on Appropriations, the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Culberson).

Madam Speaker, I yield 1\1/2\ minutes to the chairman of the Legislative Branch Subcommittee on Appropriations, the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Crenshaw).

I yield 1 minute to a new member of our committee, the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Dent).

Madam Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to a new member of our committee, the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Austria).

Madam Speaker, I yield 1\1/2\ minutes to a new Member of this body, the gentleman from Louisiana (Mr. Landry).

And I join you in that commitment. That's what we're planning to do. I just want this bill over with.

Mr. Speaker, I yield the balance of my time to the chairman of the Interior Subcommittee on Appropriations, the gentleman from Idaho (Mr. Simpson).

Mr. Speaker, I submit the following.

Pursuant to section 8120 of Division A of H.R. 1473 as

passed the House on April 14, 2011, Chairman Rogers submits

the following explanatory statement: