Floor Statements

Madam Speaker, at the end of the bill, Mr. Rogers of Kentucky will be presenting a motion to recommit that addresses the issue of detainees at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. This motion to recommit is very much designed to implement that which was the motion to instruct that so successfully passed the other day. It passed the House by a vote of 258-163, and I presume that the vote will reflect that pattern when we go to the motion to recommit. But first let me thank the gentleman for the time.

Mr. Chairman, in many ways, this conference report represents both the best and the worst of this Chamber's storied history. On the one hand, this conference report typifies the type of work that can result from strong bipartisanship. We are most certainly at our best when our very capable Members work together in the professional manner that we've seen with Chairman Price and Ranking Member Rogers. So I congratulate the two of them for producing what is essentially a very well-balanced piece of legislation that will undoubtedly improve the safety and security of this great Nation.

However, this conference report also represents some of the worst in terms of partisan maneuvering. The language contained in section 552 pertaining to Guantanamo Bay detainees is a result of a last-minute mystery insert by the majority of language that was not in either the House or the Senate bill.

With this language, Chairman Obey and the Democratic leadership are trying to establish Congress' de facto position on Gitmo detainees. And that position, in my view, is regrettably weak as well as flawed. To permit enemy combatants to come to the United States for the purpose of prosecution is a misguided and is potentially a very dangerous decision. Terrorists should not be treated like common criminals in the Federal court. These detainees are enemies of the State, and should be treated as such by being held and brought to justice right where they are: in a very well-established judicial facility at Guantanamo.

Both the House and the Senate have cast clear, bipartisan votes over the last 2 weeks that made it very clear where Members and the American people are on this issue. They do not want these terrorists brought to the United States for any reason. It is regrettable that the Democrat leadership's flawed position on Guantanamo Bay detainees casts a shadow over what is otherwise a bipartisan, well-crafted conference report that will provide key resources for our security.

I appreciate the very, very good work of Chairman Price and Ranking Member Rogers on this measure, but take considerable exception to Democrat leadership's insertion on Guantanamo Bay detainees.

I very much appreciate my colleague's yielding.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of this legislation because it will greatly benefit the thousands of veterans in my district and the greater Inland Empire.

With the passage of this bill, the Jerry Pettis Veterans Medical Center will begin the process of establishing a new health care center. This new 271,000-square-foot facility will directly benefit veterans of Riverside and San Bernardino Counties by increasing access to care, expanding services, and reducing wait times.

I would like to thank the staff of the Jerry Pettis VA Hospital for their very hard work and the fine service they're providing to veterans in our region.

Mr. Speaker, the United States Supreme Court will soon hear arguments in the case of Salazar v. Buono, which may determine the future of memorials all across the country that honor those who fought and died for our Nation. The center of this case is a memorial in my

district known as the Mojave Desert Cross, which has stood proudly for over 75 years. It was erected by veterans of World War I and maintained by generations of veterans since 1934.

It was attacked 10 years ago by the ACLU, which convinced a judge to declare the memorial to World War I veterans unconstitutional. Clearly, they want to erase anything from public property that might be seen as religious in some way.

The monument was not established by government or maintained by the government, but it now stands in the Mojave National Preserve. It is a tribute to those who protected America and freedom, not a promotion of religion. If the critics of this memorial are successful, it could open the door to attacks on memorials and historic sites in all of our national parks, including Arlington National Cemetery and Gettysburg National Military Park.

I am proud to say that the Congress has understood the value of these materials and has voted overwhelmingly on numerous occasions to preserve the Mojave Desert Cross in honor of those who have defended our Nation. The will of Congress is to keep the cross in tribute to all veterans--and I sincerely hope the Justices will see the wisdom of that intent.

Madam Speaker, I would like to express my greatest appreciation to the chairman of the subcommittee and the ranking member for the job they have done on this bill, which will be perfected by this motion to instruct.

Clearly, the work that involves our dealing with these detainees at Guantanamo Bay is very important work. We have been waiting for a long time now for a complete report from the administration giving us an indication as to how they would implement this campaign promise. We find ourselves in a circumstance today where it is apparent that a pretty sizable number of detainees are in plan for release somewhere, perhaps not the continental United States, but foreign countries and otherwise.

It is almost impossible to discuss, in this environment, the most serious concern about these detainees, for much of the information involved is highly classified information. But, needless to say, this is a group of very dangerous people, and a lot of circumstances have changed since the bill has come out of committee and we finally have it here on the floor for consideration by the conference.

Perfecting this package as we go forward by passing this motion to instruct would bring us very close to being in mesh with what is being proposed in the other body. It would appear that the leadership of our committee in the other body feels pretty strongly that we should not be spending funds that would allow these detainees to come to the United States.

This motion to instruct, I believe, will cause our conference to be a much more comfortable conference when we go there. I would urge the Members strongly to support Mr. Rogers' motion to instruct.

Thank you very much, Mr. Aderholt.

I want to congratulate both Ms. Wasserman Schultz and my colleague for a fabulous job on their bill working together.

I know that the House realizes that I have serious reservations about some of the procedure involving this bill, but because of the fact that we discussed so much of that on the rule, I choose to submit the balance of my statement for the Record and revise and extend my remarks.

Madam Speaker, the House finds itself in a peculiar place today. I'm probably not the only Member in this body surprised by the fact that the majority leadership is putting the budget for the Legislative Branch ahead of the budget for our homeland security, our veterans, and our national defense.

Indeed, many Members on both sides of the aisle are scratching their heads over the fact that the Legislative Branch funding bill has been hijacked by adding to it a 4-week continuing resolution. The CR is necessary because of the absence of any approved spending bills for the fiscal year that begins less than a week from now.

Attaching the CR to the Legislative Branch bill makes a mockery of the legislative process. It's not the CR that I object to but rather that it's being attached to legislation funding the internal operations of Congress rather than higher priority legislation that is ready to go.

Members who are concerned about approving their staff's budget before approving budgets for our veterans, our troops, or the homeland are left with a dilemma of the leadership's making. House Members are faced with the Hobson's choice of either approving their own budget or shutting down the government. Nothing could be more cynical.

To say the least, this is a most unusual precedent. The bipartisan staff of the Homeland Security subcommittee has been working day and night and weekends since August preparing its conference report. My understanding is that the Homeland Security conference report is ready to go. Any remaining issues can and should be resolved at an open conference involving Members and Senators. The whole point of convening a conference committee is to reconcile differences between the bodies.

And yet, even as our law enforcement officials investigate a potential terrorist threat in New York City and Denver, the budget for protecting our homeland has been put on a shelf. How can this Congress possibly justify providing funds for its own use and give less priority to protecting our homeland? I don't get it.

In this case, to put congressional staff salaries ahead of medical care for Veterans, ahead of funding for law enforcement and homeland security, ahead of funding for our troops--is a signal to me that this Congress has its priorities out of order.

Lastly, it's astonishing to me that several commonsense amendments were defeated on straight party-line votes during yesterday's conference committee meeting. The distinction between the Republican and Democrat positions on these issues could not be clearer.

House Republicans believe that the scandal-plagued organization known as ACORN should be denied funding through the next fiscal year because of recently disclosed efforts, caught on videotape, proposing the use of taxpayer dollars to support prostitution. Mr. Aderholt offered an amendment to deny ACORN funding for 1 year. Chairman Obey and his colleagues voted against the amendment.

House Republicans believe that terrorists captured in the field should not be afforded the same rights as American citizens and therefore should not receive ``Miranda Rights.'' I joined with my colleagues to offer an amendment to deny terrorists these rights. Again, Chairman Obey and his colleagues voted against the amendment.

House Republicans believe that TARP funds should not continue to be used to bail out banks and other financial institutions even after existing loans have been paid back to the government. Congressman Cole offered an amendment to stop TARP from becoming a permanent, reusable, $700 billion slush fund for private corporations. Again, Chairman Obey and his colleagues voted against the amendment.

The priorities of this House majority leadership are clearly misplaced and out of the mainstream where most Americans work and live. I feel badly for Ms. Wasserman-Schultz and Mr. Aderholt, and their fine staff, for they have worked very well together this year. I want to commend both of them for their work and extend my sympathy for the shameful manner in which their conference report is being brought to the floor today.

Madam Speaker, I submit the following:

Project name: Synchrotron-Based Scanning Research

Requested amount: $6,000,000.00

Recipient: Loma Linda University Medical Center, 11175 Campus Drive, Loma Linda, CA 92354

Purpose: The Synchrotron-based Neuroscience and Proton Institute (NSPI) is pioneering new possibilities in medical technology and neuroscience for the service of patients with previously untreatable benign diseases. The potential of the NSPI is to expand efforts in the treatment of people with uncontrollable serious behavioral conditions, including military personnel and veterans suffering from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder as well as persons who are currently incarcerated in prisons and who volunteer for this treatment. Eventually the treatment would be an available medical option to all persons seeking a non- invasive, non-drug alternative to behavioral disorders, both in the military and civilian populations.

Project name: Center for Innovative Geospatial Technology-

Requested amount: $7,000,000.00

Recipient: ESRI, 380 New York Street, Redlands, CA 92373

Purpose: Geospatial support to the warfighter has proven its value on the battlefield. Successes to date, together with advances in GIS technology, create the demand and the opportunity to apply geospatial analysis to a much larger set of military intelligence issues, and to embed advanced geospatial analysis techniques in critical warfighter support systems. These tasks can also help to integrate the national intelligence, defense intelligence, and military operational communities, all of which are heavily invested in geospatial technology and applications. Building on widely used information systems will expedite the work, facilitate ready application to new problems, create a foundation for sharing, and in the process create opportunities for economies. For the taxpayer, this means more efficient use of intelligence assets and resources to support military and other government operations, and lower operating costs in the intelligence community due to better integration of intelligence information and better quality of information to a large number of intelligence users.

Project name: Facility Security using Tactical Surveys

Requested amount: $4,500,000.00

Recipient: TSG, 301 Vanderbilt Way, San Bernardino, California 92408

Purpose: The Tactical Survey System is an innovative computer-based, interactive tool that provides crisis personnel access to a vast database of reliable pre-incident information on a facility, thereby enhancing their ability to effectively respond to an emergency situation. The Tactical Survey System includes immersive imagery with embedded tactical intelligence including hazardous material types and locations, aerial photos, ingress and egress videos, key personnel, building construction information, utility shutoff locations with instructions, communications infrastructure, fire fighting assets, fire and security alarm systems, and perimeter control systems. Completion of a survey at a federal installation allows precise advanced planning of emergency response, conduct of realistic exercises, and detailed training of individuals.

Project name: Commercialization of Advanced Technology

Requested amount: $2,500,000.00

Recipient: California State University, San Bernardino, 5500 University Parkway, San Bernardino, CA 92407-2393

Purpose: A collaborative partnership between California State University, San Bernardino (CSUSB) and San Diego State University, with the Space and Naval Warfare Systems Center, San Diego, other government, academic, and industry representatives, offers a proven process for accelerating technology to meet priority military and homeland defense requirements. Key focus is on commercializing technologies developed in government labs and/ or funded under the SBIR program, transitioning technologies from the commercial sector to meet government priorities. The need for advanced technological solutions for personnel protection, enhanced situational awareness, NBCR protection, and critical military operations is paramount.

Project name: Integrated Information Technology Policy Analysis Research and Technology Commercialization and Management Network

Requested amount: $4,000,000.00

Recipient: California State University, San Bernardino, 5500 University Parkway, San Bernardino, CA 92407-2393

Purpose: Integrated Information Technology Policy Analysis Research creates a more strategic, adaptive IT policy to advance the Army's Network Centric Operations vision for the future force, especially with regard to providing situational intelligence to soldiers on the battlefield. Technology Commercialization and Management Network accelerates DoD spiraling technologies acquisition strategy, lowers defense costs by accelerating government technologies, promotes higher educational institutions & small businesses technological innovation, increases commercial application of innovations derived from DoD R&D.

Project name: Research to Treat Cancerous Brain Tumors using Neural Stem Cells

Requested amount: $2,000,000.00

Recipient: Loma Linda University Medical Center, 11175 Campus Drive, Loma Linda, CA 92354

Purpose: Current cancer treatments do not work on a majority of brain tumors. New breakthrough research has led to the theory that cancerous brain tumors develop and are propagated by a small sub-population of rogue transformed neural stem cells that are highly resistant to existing cancer therapies due to their self-renewal capacity.

With the proposed project, Loma Linda seeks to partner with the Department of Defense and a leading industry research company to achieve the following goals over the next four years: 1. Establish an in vitro brain tumor stem cell model sufficient for systematic screening of potential agents with anti-tumor activity; 2. Search for potential anti-tumor agents that block tumor-activating proteins or enhance tumor-suppressing proteins in the human neural stem cell model of brain tumor; 3. Create an animal model of human glioblastoma for efficacy testing of potential anti-tumor agents; 4. Create a drug form or route of administration of the anti-tumor agent that can be selectively delivered to the brain without exposing peripheral organs to potentially high toxic dose; 5. Demonstrate a proof-of-principle anti-tumor activity with the most promising test agent in the animal model.

Project name: Norton AFB Infrastructure Improvements

Requested amount: $6,000,000.00

Recipient: Inland Valley Development Agency (IVDA), 294 South Leland Norton Way, Suite #1, San Bernardino, CA 92408-0131

Purpose: The Office of Economic Adjustment in the Department of Defense is tasked

to assist communities that are adversely impacted by Defense program changes, including base closures or realignments, base expansions, and contract or program cancellations. The San Bernardino International Airport, formerly Norton Air Force Base, is a 2,100-acre facility, wholly within the jurisdiction of the City of San Bernardino. Officially closed as a military base in March of 1994, the former Base has been operated by two joint powers authorities, the Inland Valley Development Agency (IVDA) which was formed in 1990, and the San Bernardino International Airport Authority (SBIAA) which was formed in 1992. The IVDA and the SBIAA are in the process of replacing and upgrading the infrastructure of the former Norton Air Force Base. These improvements include ongoing base structure repair and environmental remediation, water system improvements and base floodwater runoff mitigation. In addition to the federal funds requested, the IVDA and the SBIAA are committing their own significant financial resources to the various projects.

Project name: Spintronics Memory Storage Technology

Requested amount: $3,500,000.00

Recipient: University of California, Riverside, 900 University Avenue, Riverside, CA 92521

Purpose: This project aims to take advantage of recent advances in nanomaterials, nanodevices and spintronics to bring about revolutionary advances in magnetic storage technologies and to develop chip-scale packaging and thermal dissipation solutions for this new generation of devices. Current hard disk drives are now contending with the superparamagnetic limit, which limits the magnetic grain size for recording information. This effort will explore the use of multilevel recording techniques and examine the use of new nanomaterials for the development of highly efficient thermal interface materials in order to accommodate the high thermal dissipation required in compact devices.

Project name: Carbon Nanotube Thin Film Near Infrared Detector

Requested amount: $2,000,000.00

Recipient: Carbon Solutions, Inc., 1200 Columbia Avenue, Riverside,

Will the gentleman yield?

I wish the gentleman would start over. I'm finding it difficult to understand your very rapid speech. Will you slow down a little bit?

Mr. Speaker, I rise to point out the absurdity of the situation we find ourselves in today. In the majority's haste to slam legislation through the floor with almost no consideration at the committee level, with no time for consideration by the House membership in general, and with absolutely no ability for the Members of this body to amend bills on the floor, we are now seeing the effects of such shortsighted martial law tactics.

Mr. Speaker, the Cash for Clunkers program was passed on the suspension calendar so no Members were able to offer amendments. The Senate had a comparable bill with some significant differences. The House and Senate bills should have gone to full and open conference so those differences could have been negotiated and a conference report then brought for a vote. Instead, the leadership of this body, without consultation or negotiation, stuck the House version of Cash for Clunkers on what was supposed to be a, quote, clean war supplemental, a bill only for the purpose of funding and supporting our troops and our efforts overseas in the war on terror. They had to do that because of the mess the majority created of the conferenced bill, and I use that term loosely, as most of the funding levels and programs were determined not in a conference but by the House leadership and by my chairman. But when it came to counting votes, the leadership and the chairman had to do some dancing and started loading up the war supplemental with extraneous and unrelated items, all of which needed to get more votes. Cash for Clunkers was one of those items.

My colleagues in the Senate, Senator Feinstein, in particular, and Senator Collins, had some serious concerns with the House bill. Senator Feinstein tried to negotiate some changes to improve the program but was rebuffed, as I understand it, by my chairman. Basically they were told that it was his way or the highway. Here we are today--not one hearing on the Cash for Clunkers program in the Appropriations Committee, not one hearing on the needs of the program prior to receiving funds, not one hearing on how the first billion dollars has been spent, not one hearing on how much money the program will need to get through the fiscal year. Instead, we find ourselves on the suspension calendar for the second time in 3 days, bailing out another program, shoveling another $2 billion out the door this fiscal year after we've shoveled $14 billion out the door to bail out the highway programs and other related items.

My colleagues are going to pat themselves on the back for finding an offset for this transfer; and for that I say two things: first, you should have been finding ways to offset spending all year; second, if there was an extra $2 billion in the stimulus program that was suitable for a different purpose, why did we spend the $2 billion in the first place? How many other billions of dollars are in the stimulus not being spent that we can return to our taxpayers?

Now many of my colleagues will say, This is a great program, and it is necessary for the revitalization of the economy and the car industry. I'm not really going to argue with those goals. Those are good goals, and we are looking for solutions. However, are we sure this program is working like it's supposed to? I don't think so. How is it that we didn't hear of this funding problem until last night? And even then we were told there was roughly 24 hours before they were going to shut down the program. This program has only been up and running 1 week. If that is how the government is going to handle billion-dollar programs affecting all Americans, I ask, Whatever will we do if the administration takes control of our health care system? I quote one car dealer from New York: ``If they can't administer a program like this, I'd be a little concerned about my health insurance.'' I say, amen.

I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentlelady from Michigan (Mrs. Miller).

Mr. Speaker, I am proud to yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Upton), the cochairman of the bipartisan Auto Caucus.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Hensarling).

I yield, Mr. Speaker, 2 minutes to the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Hoekstra).

Mr. Speaker, I would like to say to the gentlelady who authored this bill, she has more influence with the Appropriations chairman than most people around here. He just picked that up for her and moved it along, expedited the process.

I am proud to yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from California (Mr. Campbell).

Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Arizona (Mr. Flake).

Mr. Speaker, may I inquire of the time remaining on both sides?

Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Broun).

Mr. Speaker, I will be the last speaker on our side, so I reserve the balance of my time.

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

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

Mr. Speaker, it should be noted that the Speaker, when she was presenting her views to the membership, indicated that, one way or another, she'd find a way to get this money back into the bill somewhere down the line. Between now and then, it's pretty obvious that this bill could not have been on the floor today if it had not been for an emergency designation that would allow us to exercise ourselves in this fashion.

I would remind ourselves one more time of the quote received from a car dealer in New York. Speaking of us, about how this bill was handled, he said, If they can't administer a program like this, I'd be a little concerned about my health insurance.

With that, I join the gentleman one more time in saying, ``Amen.''

I yield back the balance of my time.

Would the gentleman yield?

I just want to say, Mr. Chairman, that, for some reason or another, the gentleman who is our Speaker pro tempore has drawn the short end of the stick this week. He has been doing wonderful work in moving the process along, and I think the body should recognize his work.

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

Mr. Speaker, if there was ever a time when the American public needed to pay close attention to the spending decisions being made in Congress, it is now.

It's ironic that in the week following the adoption of so-called ``Pay-Go Rules,'' the House would be debating a measure to set aside more than $14 billion--without offsets--to pay for two so-called trust funds that have run dry. ``Pay as we Go'' has been replaced with ``Spend as we Borrow.''

Today, the House will vote to borrow another $7 billion--that's $7 billion--out of the general fund to replenish the Highway Trust Fund which has become insolvent as a result of high gas prices and the sluggish economy. By this time next month, without a congressional bailout, the so-called Highway Trust Fund will be unable to reimburse states for their highway investments. It was only last year that Congress set aside $8 billion from the general fund to keep the highway fund solvent.

Clearly, this band-aid approach to fixing this re-occurring problem is not working. One more time, the House is voting to bail out another sector of the economy with money it does not have. This is on the heels of the bank bailout. It's on the heels of the so-called ``Recovery Act'' which has succeeded in spending billions but has thus far failed to create jobs. It's on the heels of the bailout of automakers in Detroit. And it follows another year of astronomical spending increases for every major government program run out of Washington, DC.

It was only last month that our former colleague, and the present Secretary of Transportation, Ray LaHood, testified before the House Transportation Appropriations Committee. ``I want to assure you that we will soon have a plan to address the potential Trust Fund shortfall this summer,'' he said. ``We believe very strongly that any Trust fund fix must be paid for.''

An effort was made by the THUD-Appropriations Ranking Member, Tom Latham of Iowa, to pay for a solution to the Highway Trust Fund shortfall. But, because my friend Mr. Latham is a Republican, his amendment was rejected on a party-line vote in the full Appropriations Committee. In a sign of just how desperate the majority party in the House has become, Mr. Latham wasn't even allowed to offer his amendment during consideration of the transportation funding bill last week.

If the bailout of the Highway Trust Fund wasn't enough, Congress is also being called upon to replenish both the Unemployment Trust Fund and increase the limits for two mortgage lending programs under HUD. In the case of the unemployment trust fund, states have been hit with a double whammy of a halting economy and job losses causing more and more people to line up for unemployment benefits.

Over $400 million was appropriated through the so-called Recovery Act to address this shortfall but those funds have now been depleted. And, to this point, the authorizing committees have failed to take any action to help those presently receiving benefits or newly unemployed.

Mr. Speaker, with each passing day it's becoming increasingly clear that the public is growing ever more wary about the reliance of this Congress on government spending as a solution to every problem facing our country.

As the Congress spends trillions on bailouts and borrowing--and our record national deficit increases by the day--the President's response thus far has been almost laughable. Yesterday, with much fan fare, the White House proposed saving taxpayers money by double-sided copying of government documents and eliminating unused government e-mail accounts and phone lines. These examples hardly qualify as profiles in courage.

The President and this majority leadership have promised fiscal discipline and a return to economic prosperity. And yet, the record thus far shows nothing but one bailout after another and rising levels of government spending as far as the eye can see.

Madam Chair, I rise simply to express the House's deep appreciation for the work that Mr. Murtha and Mr. Young do together on behalf of our troops. It's a fabulous display of the way the place should work, and I want you to know that I extend my congratulations.

I have similar reservations, Chairman Murtha, that have been expressed by my colleague Mr. Young about the F-22. You know of the history when I chaired the committee and when we examined that program very, very carefully. My difficulty is I just can't project out there what the challenges are going to be. If China, for example, should join with Russia and come on line with tactical aircraft, we've got to think ahead, and I'm worried that we may not be doing that.

Mr. Speaker, excellent health care begins with a great personal relationship between a physician and his or her patient. Government should not attempt to get between them. America has a health care delivery system second to none. Problems such as portability and covering preexisting conditions can be underwritten actuarially without throwing out a system that works for the vast percentage of Americans.

Every American family knows excellent care does involve some costs. While we pay our doctors fairly for their service, government should not get in the way.

Mr. Chairman, as we begin the 11th of 12 appropriations bills, let me congratulate David Obey, as well as Mr. Tiahrt, for their very fine work together. They're agreeing to disagree on many of the key issues here but, nonetheless, work very positively at the subcommittee level.

Mr. Chairman, the Labor-HHS spending bill we will consider today is an appropriations bill that involves a very significant level of funding. By now we all know how important it is to Chairman Obey to complete each of the spending bills by the end of July. It's almost a badge of courage for him to go into the August recess saying, ``I did my job; the House Appropriations Committee has completed its work.''

To some extent, I know how he feels. On June 30, 2005, Mr. Obey and I celebrated the passage of all of the fiscal year 2006 spending bills with our bipartisan staff just across the hall from the House Chamber. And for the record, each of those spending bills was considered on this floor under an open rule with unlimited opportunity for Members of both parties to offer and debate amendments.

Today, the House is under different management and, clearly, we're on a different path. In 2005, there were 27 amendments offered on the House floor during consideration of the Labor-HHS bill. And it took a total of 14 hours over 2 days to complete our work. Today, only five amendments have been made in order, and we will conveniently complete our work in time for a late lunch.

Until today, every single floor amendment allowed by the majority on every spending bill considered thus far, they have been limited to 10 minutes of debate time. That is until now. Members on both sides of the aisle may be interested to know that the Rules Committee has generously allotted 20 minutes for the consideration of amendments today, an amendment to be offered by Chairman Obey himself. Sadly, as other Members are shut out of the process time and time again, Chairman Obey is an exception to the rule.

By this time next week the House will have passed each of its annual spending bills. Every Member of this body knows that the majority leadership has only been able to achieve its goal by pursuing a distorted road map, stifling any and all meaningful debate throughout the process. To me, it's a legislative sleight of hand that obliterates the rights of every American and undermines the very institution we all love.

A few years ago, a very talented baseball player, Barry Bonds, took a shortcut to break the home run record. This was a ball player with tremendous natural talent and great skills that, on its own, could have achieved greatness. But because he took the easy way out, he undermined his own credibility as well as the magnitude of that record-breaking performance. Barry Bonds felt then, as the majority leadership seems to feel today, that the end justify the means. In the mind's eye of the public, Barry Bonds' achievement was illegitimate, and as an asterisk was placed next to his performance in the history books and even on the record-breaking home run ball. Barry Bonds never recovered and, I fear, neither will this committee or this Congress.

As this majority leadership continues to add to the mountain of debt on a daily basis, it's important that we remind the American people that each of the spending bills are being completed this year in much the same manner as Barry Bonds setting the home run record. The majority leadership is taking shortcuts to pass these bills, an achievement they apparently could not attain within the rules. As a result, the Rules Committee has become to Chairman Obey what steroids became to Barry Bonds, not a ticket to the Hall of Fame, but merely the means to an end.

I do not hold all of my friends of the majority party responsible, for many of them feel as strongly as I do about an open process. I believe most of my friends would prefer to return to the time-honored practices and traditions of our committee.

I know many of them have grown weary of the arm-twisting and of the overly partisan instructions to oppose every Republican amendment offered in our full committee.

I don't know if or when our committee will ever return to the old days, but I do know that, when the history of the fiscal year 2010 budget process is written, it will be noted with a Barry Bonds asterisk that these spending bills were completed under an entirely illegitimate process.

The lesson learned is this: To this majority leadership, the end is more important than the means, and sadly, it will take any shortcut necessary to win.

Offered By: Mr. Lewis of California

Amendment No. 21: At the end of the bill (before the short

title), insert the following:

Madam Speaker, pursuant to Republican earmark guidance, I am submitting the following in regards to the Department of Transportation, and Housing and Urban Development and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2010:

Requesting Member: Congressman Jerry Lewis

Bill Number: Department of Transportation, and Housing and Urban Development and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2010

Project Name: Ranchero Road Corridor Project

Account: FHWA-Interstate Maintenance Discretionary

Legal Name of Requesting Entity: City of Hesperia, CA

Address of Requesting Entity: 9700 Seventh Ave., Hesperia, CA 92345.

Description of Request: Funding will help construct an interchange at Ranchero Road and I-15. The project will improve motorist circulation, reduce traffic congestion, and promote commerce. This project is eligible for Interstate Maintenance (IM) funding as the IM program provides funding for resurfacing, restoration, rehabilitation and reconstruction work, including adding lanes to increase capacity, on most existing Interstate System routes. IM program requires 10% local match.

Amount: $1 million

Requesting Member: Congressman Jerry Lewis

Bill Number: Department of Transportation, and Housing and Urban Development and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2010

Project Name: Yucca Loma Bridge/Interstate 15 Congestion Relief Project

Account: FHWA--Surface Transportation Priorities

Legal Name of Requesting Entity: Town of Apple Valley

Address of Requesting Entity: 14955 Dale Evans Parkway, Apple Valley,

Madam Speaker, pursuant to Republican earmark guidance, I am submitting the following in regards to the Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2010.

Requesting Member: Congressman Jerry Lewis

Project Name: University of California, Riverside School of Medicine

Account: HRSA Health Facilities and Services

Legal Name of Requesting Entity: University of California, Riverside

Address of Requesting Entity: 900 University Avenue Riverside, CA

Amount: $3.4 million

Description of Request: The funds will be used for renovation of an anatomy lab and a biomedical sciences building that will become part of the planned School of Medicine at the University of California, Riverside. The new School of Medicine will address the severe physician shortage in Inland Southern California, one of the most rapidly growing regions in the country. With the regional physician shortfall is forecast to be high as 53 percent by 2015, the Inland Empire faces a health care challenge of crisis proportions. The regional focus of the medical school's research and clinical enterprises will help mitigate that crisis and will improve health care for the many low- and moderate-income residents of Riverside and San Bernardino counties. The results will be a model that can be applied in areas throughout the nation.

Requesting Member: Congressman Jerry Lewis

Project Name: Salvation Army of San Bernardino Family Services Program

Account: Administration for Children and Families--Social Services

Legal Name of Requesting Entity: Salvation Army of San Bernardino

Address of Requesting Entity: 746 W. 5th Street San Bernardino, CA

Amount: $160,000

Description of Request: The funds will help the Salvation Army Family Services program provide a full spectrum of community services designed to assist families that struggle with difficult challenges. The funds will also support emergency shelter services to families in crisis. The program serves families throughout the Inland Empire, which has one of the highest foreclosure and unemployment rates in the nation. The economic situation is causing increased demand for these services, at the same time that donations and State funding have declined creating a dire situation for providing services.

Requesting Member: Congressman Jerry Lewis

Project Name: San Gorgonio Hospital Computed Radiography

Account: HRSA--Health Facilities and Services

Legal Name of Requesting Entity: San Gorgonio Memorial Hospital

Address of Requesting Entity: 600 N Highland Springs Ave, Banning, CA

Amount: $340,000

Description of Request: The funds would help purchase a Computed Radiography system to replace x-ray film and create a digital image. San Gorgonio Memorial Hospital is a not-for-profit community hospital that is serving a rapidly growing area of Riverside County. As Riverside County struggles with high unemployment and foreclosure rates, the hospital is providing more unreimbursed medical care, making it difficult to meet payroll and impossible to purchase any new equipment. Computed Radiography is the standard of care in diagnostic imaging and has been show to greatly increase patient safety.

Requesting Member: Congressman Jerry Lewis

Project Name: Redlands Community Hospital PET/CT Scanner

Account: HRSA--Health Facilities and Services

Legal Name of Requesting Entity: Redlands Community Hospital

Address of Requesting Entity: 350 Terracina Boulevard, Redlands, CA

Amount: $500,000

Description of Request: The requested funds would help support the purchase of combination Positron Emission Tomography, PET, ``64 slice'' scanner/Computed Tomography, CT, machine. Currently RCH rents a PET scanner 3 days a week to accommodate patient demand. Redlands Community Hospital is one of a handful of remaining independent nonprofit hospitals in Southern California, and provides annually over $8 million in charity care to the community. The equipment will help insure access to diagnostic services in the face of rapidly increasing levels of demand.

Requesting Member: Congressman Jerry Lewis

Project Name: St. Bernardine Medical Center Endovascular Suite

Account: HRSA--Health Facilities and Services

Legal Name of Requesting Entity: St. Bernardine Medical Center

Address of Requesting Entity: 2101 North Waterman Ave San Bernardino,