Floor Statements

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of this comprehensive energy package, the Conference Report on H.R. 6.

Three months ago the lights went out in the Northeast, Midwest and throughout parts of my congressional district in northern New Jersey, leaving millions of New Jerseyans sitting in the dark.

More than anything else this event taught us that we cannot lurch from energy crisis to energy crisis. It's an economic risk we cannot afford to take or ever let happen again.

While Americans are beginning to find jobs, our economy is still volatile to domestic and international events. Too many New Jerseyans are still looking for work.

That is why I believe it is important that we continue to advance more aggressive pro-growth, pro-job policies including this first step toward a long-term comprehensive, national energy plan that is before us today.

This package will further strengthen our economy and ensure the stability of our energy supply by preventing the loss of jobs while creating hundreds of thousands of new jobs in all sectors including manufacturing, construction, agriculture and technology.

While prices at the gas pump are going down and more jobs are being created--make no mistake about it--may families face natural gas, oil and electric bills two or three times higher than they did just a few years ago and some employers are still hiring fewer workers to absorb the rising cost of energy.

Mr. Speaker, we need this legislation to promote more energy conservation, research, and development, and to provide for security and diversity in the energy supply for the American people.

While I am pleased that this legislation is good for our economy, I am also happy to know that it is working to promote conservation. This legislation takes great strides to promote energy efficient products, renewable energy and alternative fuels--all of which are environmentally responsible energy policies.

We live and work in a nation that demands more energy than we can adequately supply. Every American, whether they realize it not, depends upon reliable, affordable energy. To drive a car, run a small business, or own a home--we need energy.

We are also a nation that relies on fossil fuels, and whether we think that's good or bad, it's a fact that is not going to change anytime soon. Oil, gas, coal and nuclear energy fuel our Nation. In fact, half of our of our Nation's electricity is generated in powerplants that burn coal, 20 percent of our Nation's electricity is nuclear powered, and 18 percent of America's lights are turned on by natural gas.

Specifically, New Jersey generates 37 percent of its energy from coal, 17 percent from nuclear energy, another 17 percent from natural gas, 15 percent from oil, 5 percent from hydroelectric energy and 1 percent from other sources.

In recent weeks, New Jersey was reported to have one of the highest heating oil prices at $1.45 a gallon, while at the same time homeowners are expected to pay an average of $841 to heat their homes with natural gas this winter.

Clearly, we must all share the goal of energy conservation. To keep our prices down, we must be smarter and more efficient about the way we produce and consume energy.

Mr. Speaker, we need to pass this energy package to strengthen our national security by reducing dependence on foreign energy sources. Our Nation has become dangerously dependent on foreign sources of oil, especially since America imports 60 percent of the oil we use from other countries including nearly 20 percent from Persian Gulf countries and 40 percent from OPEC countries as well as Canada and Venezuela.

We need to pass this package so that we can increase funding for programs to help low-income residents over their high energy costs. At the present time, it is estimated that the Northeast Heating Oil Reserve's maximum inventory of heating oil is 2 million barrels. The Department of Energy believes that this reserve will provide relief from weather-related shortages from approximately 10 days, which is just enough time for ships to bring heating oil from the Gulf of Mexico to our New Jersey/New York Harbor. To protect against the risk of empty oil barrels, especially as we approach the winter season, we need to pass this legislation so that New Jersey's low-income families do not have to choose between heating their homes and putting food on the table. They need immediate assistance to overcome the burden of rising energy costs.

In direct response to August's blackout, we also need to modernize our electrical infrastructure. This legislation contains important measures to help attract new investment into the industry and ensure the reliability of our Nation's electricity grid. It provides for enforceable mandatory reliability standards, incentives for transmission grid improvement and reforms of transmission rules.

Mr. Speaker, there is no doubt about it that we need a stronger and more stable supply of energy. By passing this energy plan we can upgrade our electrical grids, develop new techniques for energy efficiency, increase domestic production and ultimately create hundreds of thousands new jobs.

But more than anything else, we can provide Americans with a more steady and reliable stream of power and help them pay less in their electric bills.

It has been 11 years since Congress has sent an energy bill to the White House. That's 11 years too long. And now the August blackout has only crystallized the urgent need for action.

We cannot afford to wait any longer. The stakes are too high.

I strongly urge the passage of this energy package.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of this legislation and urge its prompt adoption this evening.

I want to commend the chairman of the committee and the chairmen of the Defense and Foreign Operations Subcommittees for their expeditious and effective handling of this emergency supplemental for Iraq and Afghanistan.

To our young soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan: Help is on the way. Difficulties remain, especially in the ``Sunni triangle.'' It continues to be a dangerous place. But we're there to finish the job--terrorists, Saddam loyalists, and common criminals must be pursued and brought to justice.

This bill is more than just dollars and cents--this is direct support for the safety and security of our young troops standing in harm's way and for the reconstruction of Iraq. It's the resources our troops need: Better weapons, reliable intelligence, more ammunition, body armor, vehicles, better pay, and additional equipment to get the job done.

For example, the conference report increases funds to purchase body armor Special Armor Plate Insert, to clear unexploded ordnance and to increase production of other force protection measures such as armored HMMVV's and electronic jammers.

Quality of life for our troops and their families is also important.

The conference report includes a provision which authorizes continued payment of per diem for travel of family members of military personnel who are ill or injured as a result of active duty service and includes a provision to continue the increased monthly rate of Imminent Danger Pay and Family Separation Allowances through September 30, 2004.

In addition, the Conference report requires DOD to notify reservists in writing of their expected mobilization and deployment period--to help reduce the uncertainty many reservists have faced regarding call- up times, departure dates, and overseas deployment periods.

The conference report also provides $32 million for the Family Advocacy program, and $10 million for the National Guard Family Readiness Program--programs which provide support services to military families, especially those who have faced losses, or who have a family member deployed.

Finally, Mr. Speaker, the report prohibits service members injured in combat or training from being billed for meals during their hospitalization. Make this benefit retroactive to 9/11/2001 and provides reimbursement for those who have already paid meal charges.

Of course, we mourn the loss of any American soldier and pray for the early recovery of our wounded. We are forever in their debt and reject the mindless notion that their sacrifice is in vain.

Mr. Speaker, the Coalition Provincial Authority, working with our military and civilian officials of 131 nations, especially the United States Agency for International Development has been working hard to improve the quality of life and deliver needed assistance.

This Supplemental for Iraq and Afghanistan will go toward creating conditions on the ground in Iraq that will enable our troops to succeed in their mission--by providing the basic services and humanitarian relief that will make a big difference in stabilizing the country.

Mr. Speaker, the reconstruction package is critical to the military mission. I urge its adoption.

Mr. Chairman, I thank the gentleman for yielding me time.

I rise in opposition to the Pence amendment.

Mr. Chairman, some feel that we should give loans to Iraq rather than provide direct assistance. I believe that this is the wrong approach. As the Washington Post asserted in its lead editorial yesterday, ``To make a loan in these circumstances is like swimming out to a drowning man and handing him a 10 pound weight.''

I could not agree more. For two decades, Saddam Hussein spent billions of dollars building his elaborate palaces and war machine and neglecting his oil infrastructure, while the people of Iraq were forced to bear the burden of his neglect of basic health and educational services. Now, Saddam has left Iraq $225 billion in debt, including approximately $100 billion owed to France, Germany, Russia and other nations, and an additional $125 billion in reparations owed to Kuwait and Saudi Arabia for damage done by his invasion of Kuwait in 1990.

At this point, why should the Iraqi people bear the brunt of debt incurred by their former dictator?

There is an underlying premise that we must never forget: support for reconstruction and stabilization in Iraq is inextricably linked to the security of our soldiers on the ground. With success, a free Iraq will send a clear message to the people of the Middle East and beyond that freedom and democracy, not violence and terrorism, are the best paths for the future.

A larger crushing debt burden will lead to greater discontent and instability, and again make Iraq an incubator for terrorists who will stop at nothing to hinder our mission.

To lessen this risk, this supplemental request will provide the resources necessary to help ensure stability, peace, and democracy in Iraq. This will create a safer environment for our troops and a safer world for our children and grandchildren and, indeed, our strategic interests.

Mr. Chairman, I urge the rejection of this amendment.

Mr. Chairman, I thank the gentleman from Arizona (Mr. Kolbe) for yielding me the time.

Mr. Chairman, I rise in strong support of the supplemental package and urge its prompt adoption. In fact, the sooner we pass this legislation and provide material support for our troops and begin rebuilding the Iraqi economy savaged by decades of Saddam Hussein's corrupt rule, the sooner our dedicated service personnel will come home with their mission accomplished.

I have just returned from Iraq with a number of my colleagues as part of a fact-finding trip led by the gentleman from California (Mr. Lewis), the chairman of the Subcommittee on Defense. We visited with our troops. These brave young men and women are proud of what they are doing and know that it is important to our national security. Of course, we mourn the loss of any American soldiers' lives, and we pray for the early recovery of our wounded. We are forever in their debt and reject the mindless notion of some that their sacrifice has been in vain.

Since my return, I have also been struck by the stark contrast between the reality of the success of our military and civilian missions in Iraq and the stubborn perception that we are failing there. It is not true.

I am also one who strongly objects to the notion held by some that our involvement in Iraq does not count for something. Our involvement does count. The world and our homeland are safer for Saddam's removal. There is a better life for the Iraqi people after 30 years of oppression and torture and killing. Our involvement there and the sacrifices of our soldiers count for something. The reality is encouraging.

Two hundred and forty hospitals are now operating, and 90 percent of the medical clinics are now reopened. A hundred primary schools and 22 universities have been rehabilitated and reopened this month. More than 55,000 Iraqi police officers are better trained and back to work, and they are being trained by the Coalition Provisional Authority in professional policing, including border security and human rights. Over 4,000 Iraqis are working side by side with coalition soldiers as part of the Civil Defense Corps, and the CPA is working to field 27 battalions of a new Iraqi Army.

Among the most hopeful signs, and we saw it firsthand, were the fact that 90 percent of the cities, towns and villages in Iraq are now governed by elected or appointed local councils, representing, indeed, diverse ethnic groups and religious groups from across the country. Clearly, there is hope growing in Iraq.

Thankfully, the Coalition Provisional Authority, working with military and civilian officials of more than 30 nations, have been working hard to improve the quality of life and deliver much-needed assistance, and now we debate the supplemental for Iraq and Afghanistan.

As we know, more than 60 percent of these funds will go to support the efforts of our young men and women in uniform, including extra combat pay, stronger physical protection, better-quality housing, and most importantly, enhanced intelligence gathering and the equipment that includes the latest technology to win the war on terrorism.

I am grateful, as all Members are, that we will now be providing, with these new funds, more money for body armor, radio jammers and reinforced Humvees. These are concrete steps to protect the well-being of our soldiers. The remaining funds will go towards creating conditions on the ground in Iraq that will enable our troops to succeed in their mission.

This supplemental is needed.

Mr. Chairman, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Sherwood), a member of the Committee on Appropriations.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor a tradition that for 30 years has brought together the families of some of the most vibrant communities in my Congressional District. The people of Denville, New Jersey and its surrounding municipalities in Morris County, and all of Northern New Jersey have gathered each year to enjoy the St. Clare's Harvest Festival, a day of family fun and frolic, all for a good cause, to benefit St. Clare's Hospital which also celebrates a milestone this year by providing 50 years of loving care and service to the people of Morris, Sussex and Warren Counties in northwestern New Jersey.

The hospital was initially created to care for the nuns and guests at St. Francis Health Resort, but the Sisters saw the need for a community hospital to assist the ever increasing population of Denville. We are all glad for their vision as St. Clare's has grown into an institution that delivers the highest quality health care, teaming up to provide the best medical care for New Jerseyans with the likes of the distinguished Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center.

Indeed, it wouldn't be Fall in Morris County without the St. Clare's Harvest Festival, but sadly, all of us who have treasured our time at the Festival know that this year it will end. On Saturday, October 4, thirty years of hard work, tireless volunteerism and good old-fashioned fun will culminate in the last Festival.

A wonderful fundraiser for the Hospital, the Harvest Festival was jointly established by the Sorrowful Mother, a Catholic order and Sister Mary Urban Harrer, who incidentally is celebrating her 90th year and remains thrilled that her efforts have come this far. Each year the Festival offers delicious homemade foods, the talents of local artisans and crafts men and women, and carnival rides and petting zoos for the area's children. A day at the Festival is a day filled with memories.

These memories and the 30 years of success would not be possible without legions of incredible volunteers who have dedicated so much of their time, energy and spirit to the Festival year after year. The cooperation and teamwork between community members and St. Clare's staff--the fantastic doctors, nurses and other health care professionals--is legendary. I especially want to recognize these individuals who deserve our praise and thanks for their commitment to serving their community and helping others. So many of my constituents will warmly recall the St. Clare's Harvest Festival and those who made it possible.

Though the Harvest Festival will no longer be a ``fall fixture'' on the calendars of thousands of citizens in New Jersey, St. Clare's Hospital will continue to serve our communities with the same loving care and compassion it has brought to the field of health care for the last 50 years.

Mr. Speaker, I know that you join me and my colleagues in congratulating all of those associated with the St. Clare's Harvest Festival on 30 years of success and in wishing the St. Clare's Hospital family another 50 years of outstanding community service.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today as a cosponsor and strong supporter of the chairman from Louisiana's bill and commend him for taking swift action against the ruling of the District Court in Oklahoma City.

Over the years through my Know-Your-Caller Act, I have worked with the gentleman from Louisiana (Mr. Tauzin) and the FTC to bring consumers greater protection from the many unwanted annoying calls that telemarketers placed at all hours of the day and night, seven days a week. These calls are an invasion of privacy, not to mention that many of these callers are unscrupulous and prey on older American senior citizens.

The FTC, Congress, and the American consumers have got it right, and this district court has got it completely wrong. This is the most incorrect and outrageous ruling I have seen in a long time. It is a direct shot at every consumer. Millions of them have registered to get their names on the list, who receive these annoying calls during dinner with their families, in the middle of the night, and then again early in the morning.

Mr. Speaker, I support this bill, and commend the chairman for his leadership and quick action.

Madam Speaker, as we debate this appropriations bill today, we should recall the words of our President, George W. Bush, shortly after the attacks of September 11, 2001.

He stated: ``America is a nation full of good fortune, with so much to be grateful for. But we are not spared from suffering. In every generation, the world has produced enemies of human freedom. They have attacked America, because we are freedom's home and defender.''

Madam Chairman, the bill we have before us today is our answer to those who would attack America. This is a strong legislative product-- one that reflects well on the Committee on Appropriations. I want to commend you, Chairman Lewis, Chairman Young and Ranking Members Obey and Murtha for your leadership.

Madam Chairman, as we consider this important legislation, we must remain mindful that our young troops are in the field--brave men and women fighting a new kind of war, as we speak.

It is a war fought with new technology in lands and civilizations that are very old--Iraq and Afghanistan.

The first part of the war had Forward Air Controllers riding horseback and calling in strikes from laptop computers.

It was also a war that was fought from our ships stationed 700 miles from targets.

It was a war that utilized B-52's and B-2s and B1Bs for precision targeting, and a war that called for our troops to go from cave to cave or building to building to seek out the enemy.

More than ever, today it is a war whose enemy is difficult to identify.

At the same time as our men and women are in action in Iraq and Afghanistan and other parts of the world, the leadership of the Department of Defense continues its wide-ranging transformation of the methods, missions and capabilities of our fighting forces.

In this context, America's armed forces have been charged with developing the capabilities to fight jointly and with coalition partners to secure victory across the full spectrum of warfare while continuing the transition to a more flexible, more agile, lighter and more lethal force.

Of course, our goal is to provide a new level of efficiency and protection to our warfighter so that they may fight--and win--the new kind of wars that will face the United States of America in coming years.

Madam Chairman, we are a peaceful people. But recent months have shown the world that we will fight anywhere to defend our national security.

The men and women of our Armed Forces have made us proud. For them, and their families, I urge adoption of the bill and yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding me time, and I congratulate the gentleman from New York (Mr. King) and his colleagues, the gentlewoman from New York (Mrs. Maloney) and the gentleman from New York (Mr. Engel), for their proposal, and I strongly support it.

Mr. Speaker, no words nor any precious medal can capture the grief and heartache of September 11 better than the words of the poem ``The Names'' by Billy Collins, the Poet Laureate of the United States, who gave us this wonderful piece of poetry so eloquently as we met in a special session of Congress in New York last year at this very time.

``Yesterday, I lay awake in the palm of the night.

A soft rain stole in, unhelped by any breeze,

And when I saw the silver glaze on the windows,

I started with A, with Ackerman, as it happened,

Then Baxter and Calabro,

Davis and Eberling, names falling into place

As droplets fell through the dark.

Names printed on the ceiling of the night.

Names slipping around a watery bend.

Twenty-six willows on the banks of a stream.

In the morning, I walked out barefoot

Among thousands of flowers

Heavy with dew like the eyes of tears,

And each had a name--

Fiori inscribed on a yellow petal

Then Gonzalez and Han, Ishikawa and Jenkins.

Names written in the air

And stitched into the cloth of the day.

A name under a photograph taped to a mailbox.

Monogram on a torn shirt,

I see you spelled out on storefront windows

And on bright unfurled awnings of this city.

I say the syllables as I turn a corner--

Kelly and Lee,

Medina, Nardella, and O'Connor.

When I peer into the woods,

I see a thick tangle where letters are hidden

In a puzzle concocted for children.

Parker and Quigley in the twigs of an ash,

Rizzo, Schubert, Torres, and Upton,

Secrets in boughs of an ancient maple.

Names written in the pale sky.

Names rising in the updraft amid buildings.

Names silent in stone

Or cried out behind a door.

Names blown over the earth and out to sea.

In the evening--weakening light, the last swallows.

A boy on a lake lifts his oars.

A woman by a window puts a match to a candle,

And the names are outlined on the rose clouds--

Vanacore and Wallace,

(Let X stand, if it can, for the ones unfound)

Then Young and Ziminsky, the final jolt of Z.

Names etched on the head of a pin.

One name spanning a bridge, another undergoing a tunnel.

A blue name needled into the skin.

Names of citizens, workers, mothers and fathers,

The bright-eyed daughter, the quick son.

Alphabet of names in a green field.

Names in the small tracks of birds.

Names lifted from a hat

Or balanced on the tip of the tongue.

Names wheeled into the dim warehouse of memory.

So many names, there is barely room on the walls of the

heart.''

Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding me time.

Mr. Speaker, the gentleman from New Jersey thanks the gentleman from California (Mr. Pombo), the chairman of the Committee on Resources, for yielding to me; and I thank him for his vision of this national memorial. I congratulate the gentleman because in coming from the New York-New Jersey region, we particularly salute him for helping us remember so many people who lost loved ones.

Mr. Speaker, today we reflect on the event of September 11, 2001, and express our deep sorrow, grief, and heartache for the victims of that tragic day and pledge never to forget them. There were about 700 New Jerseyans who were lost in those attacks and many more from New York State, other States and from other nations, as well as we remember today the lives lost at the Pentagon and in Pennsylvania.

In the face of terrorist attacks, we witnessed the remarkable bravery of EMS and first aid men and women, firefighters and police officers, including many from my State who were first on the scene, who selflessly raced into the heavily damaged World Trade Center towers to aid and rescue those in need. It was not until later that we learned that so many of them never made it out. Today we will remember their bravery and pay our respects to their families.

Like so many of us, I was touched by many heartbreaking stories and pleas from families, but one encounter I had continues to resonate with me and remind me of the tragedy of that day. On a cold, blustery, early morning in October of last year, a man walked up to me at a train station and said, ``Congressman, I am angry.'' My first thought was that he did not agree with one of my votes in Congress or he did not like the outcome of a constituent case matter that we had tried to help him with. But then he said, ``I lost my brother in the World Trade Center on September 11 and I want you to be angry too. I want you to never stop being angry.''

Before leaving the train station that morning and having heard this man's plea, I walked over to a tree planted in memory of the victims of September 11, many of whom came from that small town. There was a plaque in part that read under the tree and I quote, ``We shall never forget our friends and neighbors who rode the rails with us that morning but did not return with us that night.''

We will forever remember the victims who died at the hands of such evil men on that day. And I think we can also promise that we will never stop being angry over the attacks on our country, and this memorial proposal by the gentleman from California (Mr. Pombo) and the ranking member and his committee may help in that regard.

Ensuring the safety and security of our Nation and my State is my duty. To protect our communities and neighborhoods, we are continuing to implement a variety of strategies for homeland security. That includes full and unfledged support for our police officers, firefighters and first aiders, defense against bioterrorism, security at our ports, harbor crossings, railroads and road networks, and new procedures and standards for preparing and standards when responding to emergencies.

Along with President Bush, I can assure you that the government at every level is responding to terrorist threats, working to track down every lead, and standing watch 24 hours a day against terrorism. We remain resolved and vigilant in our efforts. We know that our work will not be done until every American is free from fear of future terrorist attacks. This memorial, this excellent proposal, this excellent vision will be a living one as has been said, such that we will never forget.

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

Mr. Chairman, the fiscal year 2004 District of Columbia Appropriations bill totals $7.9 billion. Included in this total are $466 million for Federal payments to various District programs and projects, which I will describe shortly; $1.8 billion in Federal grants to District agencies; and $5.6 billion in local funds for operating expenses and capital outlays of the District government.

This bill, Mr. Chairman, is a product of the hard work of every member of the Subcommittee on the District of Columbia. It is the culmination of several weeks of hearings, visits to local schools and other city institutions, and meetings with elected city officials and numerous others who have a keen interest in helping the District. I want to thank each of them for their interest in the District and their input into this bill. I especially want to thank the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Fattah), my ranking member, for his advice, counsel and support. He has been a pleasure to work with.

Mr. Chairman, I believe this bill reflects Congress' commitment to helping our Nation's capital. This is where we all work and many of us live, our home away from home. So we have special reasons to help our capital city.

How grateful I am to so many of my colleagues for their ongoing efforts, prior to my chairmanship, to assist the citizens of this great city, especially its school children to have better lives, and many thanks, as well, to a number of my colleagues who now seek support for a number of new projects to further help the citizens in this budget.

When I became chairman, I wanted to get to better know this city. I did this by listening and learning, visiting children in their schools and touring the many neighborhoods that make up the city. I want to thank Mayor Anthony Williams, Council Chairman Linda Cropp, and School Board President Peggy Cooper Cafritz for the support and advice they have given me.

The Constitution, Mr. Chairman, gives Congress exclusive legislative authority over the affairs of the District, and I take this mandate seriously. The District is in a stronger financial position today than a few years ago. Much of this is due to Mayor Williams and the city council, but we cannot overlook the role Congress has played in the financial recovery as well.

The District still has a long way to go to resolve many personnel and management problems, but I believe that progress is being made. I stand ready to help in any way I can.

Mr. Chairman, the committee has carefully reviewed the District's budget request and, as reflected in the bill, has given the Mayor and City Council's priorities the highest consideration when putting this bill together.

As I mentioned earlier, the bill totals $7.9 billion of which $466 million are Federal payments to various programs and projects. This is $43 million below last year's allocation and equates to an 8.4 percent reduction.

Seventy-seven percent of these funds, or $359 million, is to continue funding of the D.C. courts, the Public Defender Service, the Court Services and Offender Supervision Agency, CSSOSA. These are District functions that the Federal Government assumed financial responsibility for in the National Capital Revitalization and Self-government Improvement Act of 1997.

The remaining 23 percent, or $107 million, are for programs and projects that directly benefit the District. These include: $17 million for the tuition assistance program for the District for college-bound District students; $15 million to reimburse the District for added emergency planning and security costs related to the presence of the Federal Government in the District; $10 million for a D.C. scholarship program; $42.7 million for capital development projects in the District; dollars for the Anacostia Waterfront Initiative; and dollars for public school facility improvements.

Lastly, Mr. Chairman, I am well aware that the President's request for a school choice program in the District of Columbia, which would provide D.C. school scholarships, has stirred up considerable controversy. Personally, I have supported such scholarships for the District since they were first proposed in 1995 by Members of Congress.

There is excitement that surrounds the very successful charter movement in this city. There are 37 charter schools and 11 more on the drawing boards, more than any other city in the Nation. We have charter schools in this city.

That excitement is also apparent in those parents who strongly advocate for this new educational choice option for their children.

While we are all supportive of the District public school system and the success of the city's charter school movement, many more children can be helped by this new program.

The statistics in the U.S. Department of Education on District student performance on reading, writing, math and other core academic studies are very disturbing. The bottom line is that children in this city will be helped by giving parents more choices for educating their children. Many parents are hopeful that we will act. That is why I am happy that later today we will have an amendment to provide for the authorization of the funding I have included in this bill.

There will be much debate on this issue. And one of the arguments the opposing side will make is that this bill does not provide funding for what is called the three-pronged approach to education which the District leadership wants. While that is true, it is not my intention that this be the case when we come out of conference with the Senate.

Due to the fiscal constraints of this bill, we were only able to provide for the D.C. scholarships; but the Senate bill includes additional funding for both public and charter schools as well.

I support the Mayor's approach and will work with Chairman Young towards a conference allocation that is sufficient to address all three sectors of education in the city.

The timing of this bill, Mr. Chairman, is always of concern to the District, and rightly so, because the city's local funds cannot be spent until we pass the conference report for the bill. I am mindful of these concerns and will do everything within my power to get the District its funds in a timely manner.

In summary, the fiscal year 2000 District of Columbia appropriations bill is fiscally responsible, a balanced bill that deserves bipartisan support.

Lastly, I would like to thank the subcommittee staff, our excellent clerk Carol Murphy, Rob Nabors who works so well with the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Fattah) and certainly with this chair, and Kelly Wade of my staff for their diligent and professional work on this bill.

I would also like to thank Nancy Fox from my immediate staff and William Miles from the gentleman from Pennsylvania's (Mr. Fattah) staff for their hard work as well.

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

Mr. Chairman, it is my pleasure to yield 5 minutes to the gentleman from California (Mr. Cunningham), the vice chairman of the committee and, in fact, a long-time member of the committee.

Mr. Chairman, I yield 4 minutes to the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Weldon), a valued member of the Subcommittee on the District of Columbia.

Mr. Chairman, I would like to reiterate that Mayor Anthony Williams, the chief elected officer, the mayor of this city, supports this choice option.

Mr. Chairman, I am pleased to yield 6 minutes to the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Tom Davis), the chairman of the Committee on Government Reform, who I have had the pleasure of working with and who is the architect of this D.C. parental school choice initiative in his bill.

(Mr. TOM DAVIS of Virginia asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

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

I would like to say for the record that the dollars for this new choice program will be given to the parents so that they can make the choice. They will not be given to the school. And secondly, I need to reiterate this is new money. This is money that came from the gentleman from Ohio's (Mr. Regula) mark. It is not being taken away from the public schools or from the charter schools.

Mr. Chairman, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Washington (Mr. Nethercutt), a member of the Committee on Appropriations.

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

Mr. Chairman, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Virginia (Chairman Tom Davis).

Mr. Chairman, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Virginia (Chairman Tom Davis).

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

In closing, make no mistake about it, Mayor Williams supports what we are doing today. The gentleman from Virginia (Chairman Tom Davis) has referenced the editorial in The Washington Post by Mayor Williams and Councilman Chavous and Peggy Cooper. Let me read from it:

``For those of us involved every day in urban education, there are staggering realities that keep us awake at night. Every child who graduates without basic skills or drops out altogether is on a potential pathway to public assistance, to being alienated from the full benefits of participation in society, or, worse, to a life in the criminal justice system.''

They go on. They say: ``We think that this is an appropriate investment by the Federal Government in the children of the Nation's capital. Without the resources ordinarily provided by a State, the District is more challenged than other cities in its efforts to adequately fund public education and foster innovative reform.

``Our children,'' they go on, ``have endured decades of neglect in public education. But there is hope. We have a reconfigured school board and respected superintendent.''

They say, ``Despite these underpinnings, parents still want more choices. At town meetings, community picnics, hearings and PTA meetings, we hear the same complaints: I cannot find the right setting for my child, or my child is not flourishing in this environment.''

This is a good bill, Mr. Chairman. This is about parental choice, and it is good for the students and children of the District.

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

Mr. Chairman, I rise in opposition to the amendment.

Mr. Chairman, make no mistake about it, this amendment would basically take $10 million in additional funds away from the District of Columbia which it badly needs and $10 million away from an educational system, by all accounts, that badly needs additional money so that children have choices as to where they can go to school.

We know, Mr. Chairman, that the Mayor supports this voucher proposal, the President of the school board, the chairman of the Committee on Education and Libraries and Recreation of the D.C. council.

The Mayor has said on school choice, ``Despite the steady increases in local funding and other efforts to support our public schools, I have learned firsthand from hundreds of parents who feel there are no practical or easy alternatives for their children within the current systems of public education.''

On another occasion, Mayor Williams said relative to school choice, ``I was elected by the people of my beloved city and I took the solemn oath to act in what I think are their best interests, even in the face of conventional political wisdom. Today, I believe I have an obligation to represent all the children of the District.''

Mr. Chairman, in my capacity as chairman, I have met with many parents who have children in the public school system who support this choice program. They are literally desperate to have this new alternative.

The clearest evidence of the excitement for school choice is in the city's charter school movement: 37 charter schools, 11 on the drawing boards. I had a group representing the charter schools in my office just yesterday saying that they had waiting lists for their four charter schools that they run running at 300 children. So I think there is a lot of desperateness on the part of parents to find alternatives.

I make the point again, Mr. Chairman, that the $10 million in the bill are additional funds for the District above the subcommittee's allocation. The gentleman from Ohio (Chairman Regula) agreed to transfer the funding from the Labor-HHS bill, and I am grateful for his support of this initiative and the extra dollars.

Eliminating this funding puts the $10 million for the District in jeopardy of being transferred back to his committee and out of the city hands. For these and other reasons, I ask this amendment be rejected and we give the District leadership what it wants. What the mayor has asked for is these dollars and certainly has asked for additional dollars, and I have made a commitment to work in conference for the other dollars for the District school system, as well as additional dollars for the charter school movement.

Mr. Chairman, I concede the point of order.

Mr. Chairman, I thank the gentleman for yielding me time.

Mr. Chairman, since I was first elected to Congress, I have supported school choice for this city, and now as Chairman of the Committee on Appropriations subcommittee on the District of Columbia, I am excited to be in a position to make this program a reality for the children and the parents of the District of Columbia, working with the gentleman from Virginia (Chairman Tom Davis) and the gentleman from Ohio (Chairman Boehner).

Mr. Chairman, I ask all Members to support the Davis-Frelinghuysen- Boehner amendment and the underlying bill.

Mr. Chairman, since I was first elected to Congress, I have supported school choice for this city. And now as Chairman of the DC Appropriations Committee, I am excited to be in a position to make this program a reality for the children and parents of the District of Columbia.

The President requested funding for a Choice Incentive Fund within the U.S. Department of Education, of which a portion of the funds would be used for school choice programs in the District. Thanks to Chairman Regula, I was able to provide $10 million to expand school choice in the District. I am further pleased to report that this proposal has the full support of Mayor Williams, Chairman of the Committee on Education, Libraries and Recreation, Kevin Chavous, and President of the School Board, Peggy Cooper-Cafritz.

Throughout the year, I have worked closely with my colleague and friend, Chairman Tom Davis, who chairs the Authorizing Committee that has jurisdiction on this issue, the Government Reform Committee and John Boehner, Chairman of Committee on Education and the Workforce to advance this Presidential initiative.

We agreed to move the school choice initiative forward in our respective Committees. Chairman Davis has successfully moved the DC Parental Choice Incentive Act through his Committee. And in my bill, we have provided the actual funding.

Mr. Chairman, this amendment would unite these two initiatives together under one bill bringing us a step closer to making expanded

school choice a reality for those that so desperately want and need it.

While we are all supportive of the District Public School System, and we recognize the great progress of the city's charter schools and transformation schools, we believe that even more students can be helped by the additional option. And we are providing new dollars that add, not subtract, from either the DC public or charter schools funding sources.

What is important here is the quality and value of education for every child in this city. And the statistics from the Department of Education on District continue to show disturbing results in student performance on reading, writing, math and other core academics. The need for significant improvements is clear.

The bottom line is that these children will be helped by giving parents more choices for educating their children. Many parents are hopeful that we will act.

One of the arguments the opposing side will make is that this bill does not provide funding for the three-pronged approach the District wants. While that is true, it is not my intention that that be the case when we come out of conference with the Senate. Due to the fiscal constraints of this bill, we were only able to provide for DC Scholarships, but the Senate bill includes additional funding for both public and charter schools as well. I support the Mayor's approach and will work with Chairman Young towards a conference allocation that is sufficient to address all three sectors of education in the city.

I hope members will join with me and support of the leadership of this great city.

Mr. Chairman, will the gentleman yield?

Mr. Chairman, I thank my colleague from Pennsylvania, who has consistently stood a fervent representative of the national fire community, for bringing this issue to our attention. I understand the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Tom Davis) and the gentleman from Maryland (Mr. Hoyer) are working with the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Weldon) on a stand-alone bill to address this matter and I support his efforts.

Amendment No. 2 offered by Mr. Hefley

Mr. Chairman, I rise in opposition to the amendment.

Mr. Chairman, the Federal portion of this bill, as the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Fattah) and I already know, is 8.4 percent below last year's level which is about $43 million. It has made it difficult for to us meet the city's priority.

Actually if we had not received the $10 million from the gentleman from Ohio (Chairman Regula), our allocation would have been 10.4 percent below last year's allocation level.

This amendment, well intended, would reduce the Federal funds to the District by another 1 percent or $4.6 million. The District needs every dollar it can get for programs and priorities of the District. And I urge my colleagues to oppose the amendment.

Mr. Chairman, I reserve a point of order on the gentleman's amendment.

Mr. Chairman, I move that the Committee do now rise.

Mr. Chairman, today, I rise in strong support of H.R. 2989, Chairman Istook's Fiscal Year 2004 Transportation and Treasury Appropriations bill. Chairman Istook has worked within the framework he was provided to put forward a fair and balanced approach to fund the Departments of Transportation and Treasury and other Independent Agencies.

The Chairman's bill makes a strong commitment to our nation's highway improvements by providing $33.8 billion, which is $6.1 billion above last year's level.

Equally as important to New Jersey is Federal support for transit operations. As such, I commend the Chairman for including $7.23 billion for transit program spending, which is $52 million above last year's level. I am especially thankful that this bill provides full funding for New Jersey's top two transit priorities, the Newark Elizabeth Rail Link and the Hudson Bergen Light Rail projects.

Notably, every year in New Jersey, nearly 4 million passengers ride Amtrak trains. Each day, 109 Amtrak trains operate in New Jersey. In addition, Amtrak provides all of the maintenance and locomotive power for the 250 daily commuter trains that are operated by New Jersey Transit for hundreds of thousands of daily rail commuters in my home state, which is so densely populated and depends so much on trains and buses to minimize traffic congestion and air pollution.

By sharing the same tracks and tunnels within the Northeast Corridor with Amtrak, New Jersey has a strong interest in seeing a stable and continuing Amtrak operation, with increased funding! That said, the Chairman and the Congress have every right to demand necessary reforms of Amtrak management, strict accountability, and reasonable labor agreements.

To be clear, I feel it is absolutely essential that we do more to support Amtrak while making sure that it follows the committee's direction to carry out much needed reforms.

I want to again thank the Chairman for increasing Amtrak's funding from its original mark.

In the transportation world, the issue of safety and its importance can never be over emphasized. Thus, the more than $77 million included for the National Safety Transportation Board, is well directed dollars.

On the Treasury side, this bill takes important steps in our nation's continued war on terrorism. H.R. 2989 includes critical dollars ($57.5 million) for the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network. Included in this funding are dollars for the establishment of the Office of Terrorist Financing and Financial Crimes, which will help root out the financial infrastructures that support terrorist organizations and their murderous ways.

H.R. 2989 also includes more than $228 million for the Financial Management Service, which is responsible for the management of Federal finances.

For all these reasons and more, I support the Chairman Istook's Fiscal Year 2004 Transportation and Treasury Appropriations bill, and urge my colleagues to do the same.

Mr. Speaker, I rise to associate myself with the remarks of the dean of the House, the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Dingell), and rise in strong opposition to the Gutknecht bill, which would basically legalize the dangerous practice of reimportation of undocumented medicines from foreign countries into the United States. The American people, especially senior citizens, need to know that this provision could threaten their health and safety.

Earlier this month, the Committee on Energy and Commerce released a bipartisan report on the safety and efficacy of drugs imported into the United States. This report should be a must-read for all Members of this House as it raises serious questions about reimportation, and describes ``a system overwhelmed with an avalanche of imported counterfeit unapproved drugs into the United States.'' Yet tonight, the House is giving serious consideration to a bill that would allow American pharmacists and wholesalers to import prescription drugs from Canada and other foreign countries and resell them for a lower price here in the United States with absolutely no regulation.

There is no doubt that Congress must and will act to help older Americans cover the cost of expensive prescription medicines, but this amendment is not the right prescription.

Mr. Chairman, on rollcall No. 406, the Hostettler amendment to H.R. 2799, the Commerce-Justice-State appropriation bill for fiscal 2004, on Tuesday July 22, during a series of several votes, I inadvertently voted ``no'' when I intended to vote ``yes.''

I strongly disagree with the decision handed down by the 9th Circuit on the Pledge of Allegiance and have voted to reflect that disapproval twice previously: on June 27, 2002 (H. Res. 459) and on March 6, 2003 (H. Res. 132).

Mr. Chairman, I thank the gentleman for yielding and I ask unanimous consent to review and extend my remarks.

Mr. Chairman, I rise today in support of this year's Energy and Water Appropriation's bill.

Before I run through the many reasons for my strong support of this legislation, I would llke to thank and recognize the distinguished Chairman of the Energy and Water Appropriations Subcommittee, Representative David Hobson, who has provided strong leadership and direction, while putting together a responsible and bipartisan bill.

I would like to also thank ranking member Visclosky for his bipartisan spirit in helping to put this bill together, and the Energy and Water Subcommittee staff who all put in so much time and effort meeting with each member.

For more than 170 years, the Federal Government has worked in partnership with our States and local communities to provide solutions to critical flooding, dredging, and environmental problems, as well as beach and shore protection. This year is no exception. In fact, the gentleman from Ohio has produced a bill that ensures our Nation's continued commitment to work in partnership with our States and local municipalities to address these vital needs. In my home State of New Jersey, these projects have kept our Port of New York and New Jersey open for business, and prepared us for a future with bigger ships, and most importantly, keeping President Bush's commitment that our port continue to serve our nation and our national security and economic needs.

I would again like to thank the Chairman for his strong support for dredging the New York/New Jersey Port.

In addition, this bill helps keep the 127 miles of New Jersey Beach open to visitors from all over the country. As a direct result, over 30 billion dollars are infused into New Jersey's economy each summer, and over 800,000 people are employed.

In an effort to protect New Jerseyans, their homes, and their businesses from the destruction and devastation of flooding, this bill also provides the framework and the funding to purchase wetlands for natural storage areas, and to work with the local governments in Morris, Somerset, and Essex Counties to develop long-term solutions to these re-occurring floods.

This bill also funds the Department of Energy, where funding has been focused on core programs, which can truly make a difference. I am quite pleased that Chairman Hobson has made the Nuclear Waste Program one of his highest energy priorities. The Chairman's mark provides a total of $765 million for nuclear waste disposal, an increase of $174 million over the budget request and $308 million more than fiscal year 2003. These additional funds are provided to enable the Department to open the Yucca Mountain repository on schedule in 2010, which will help communities all around the country where nuclear waste is stored on a ``temporary'' basis.

I would again like to thank Chairman Hobson for supporting DOE's Fusion Energy Sciences program with over 268 million dollars, nearly $11 million over the President's budget. These are critical dollars which will allow America to participate in the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor, ITER, while simultaneously allowing the domestic fusion community to prosper at places like New Jersey's Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory, a Department of Energy laboratory.

Fusion energy is a future source of clean and limitless energy. More importantly, this energy source will make us less dependent on foreign oil and fossil fuels.

Mr. Chairman, for all these reasons, I urge my colleagues to support this bill.

Mr. Chairman, I rise in opposition to Mr. Andrews' Amendment.

The Delaware River Main Channel Deepening project is designed to keep the Delaware River Ports competitive with other east coast ports, all of which have dredged or are planning to dredge their channels deeper than 40 feet. Major Shipping lines have informed the ports that their next generation ships will require deeper channels. Unless these ports can go to 45 feet they will be at a competitive disadvantage with their sister ports for the expected growth of international trade.

In addition to the competitive advantage this project will provide the region, it provides much needed jobs. Over 75,000 jobs are attributable to the port industry in the Delaware Valley.

Moreover, the Delaware River Port has been designated as a military strategic port. The Port of Philadelphia has been selected as a Strategic Seaport for the Northeast Corridor of the United States. Philadelphia's selection means the Department of Defense will incorporate the use of the city's port facilities in its planning for the movement of military cargoes in the event of major contingency operations. Selection of the Pennsylvania port was made jointly by the U.S. Maritime Administration, U.S. Army Forces Command, and the Military Traffic Management Command after an assessment of many Northeast Corridor ports. Philadelphia becomes the country's 14th commercial Strategic Seaport. Designation as a Strategic Seaport creates the potential for Department of Defense cargo shipments in support of contingencies.

Mr. Chairman, for all of these reasons, I urge my colleagues to oppose this amendment and support the underlying bill.

Mr. Chairman, I rise in opposition to Mr. Udall's Amendment.

Last year I voted to endorse the Department of Energy and the President's finding that Yucca Mountain is the best choice for a national nuclear waste depository. Science and safety illustrate that Yucca Mountain is in our Nation's interest. National security further illustrates that Yucca Mountain is in our Nation's interest.

As such, Chairman Hobson has rightly made funding the Nuclear Waste Program one of his highest energy priorities. The Chairman's mark provides a total of $765 million for nuclear waste disposal, an increase of $174 million over the budget request and $308 million more than fiscal year 2003. These additional funds are provided to enable the Department to open the Yucca Mountain repository

on schedule in 2010, with particular emphasis in developing a rail line in Nevada that avoids the Las Vegas metropolitan area.

From a New Jersey perspective this site is long over due. We live in the most densely populated state in the nation, with 49 percent of our power generated by nuclear energy and for many years now, those wastes have been stored on the grounds of our two nuclear reactor sites.

The time has come for the waste to be sent to a single national repository as was promised in the Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982 and for which New Jersey taxpayers have contributed millions of dollars in their energy bills into the nuclear waste fund, specifically set up to pay for the costs of characterizing and developing the Yucca Mountain Site.

Mr. Chairman, for all of these reasons, I urge my colleagues to oppose this amendment and support the underlying bill.

Mr. Chairman, as we debate this appropriations bill today, we should recall the words of our President, George W. Bush, shortly after the attacks of September 11, 2001. He stated: ``America is a nation full of good fortune, with so much to be grateful for. But we are not spared from suffering. In every generation, the world has produced enemies of human freedom. They have attacked America, because we are freedom's home and defender.''

Mr. Chairman, the bill we have before us today is our answer to those who would attack America. This is a strong legislative product--one that reflects well on the Committee on Appropriations, I want to commend you, Chairman, Lewis, Chairman Young and Ranking Members Obey and Murtha for your leadership.

Mr. Chairman, as we consider this important legislation, we must remain mindful that our troops are in the field--brave men and women fighting a new kind of war, as we speak.

It is a war fought with new technology in a land that is very old world.

It is a war that had Forward Air Controllers riding horseback and calling in strikes from laptop computers.

This is a war being fought from our ships stationed 700 miles from targets.

This is a war that utilizes B-52s and B-2s and B1Bs for precision targeting, but it is also a war that calls for our troops to go from cave to cave or building to building to seek out the enemy. It is a war whose enemy is difficult to identify.

At the same time as our men and women are in action in Iraq and Afghanistan and other scattered locations, the leadership of the Department of Defense continues its wide-ranging transformation of the methods and missions and capabilities of our fighting forces.

In this context, America's armed forces have been charged with developing the capabilities to fight jointly with coalition partners to secure victory across the full spectrum of warfare while continuing the transition to a more flexible, more agile, lighter and more lethal force.

Of course, our goal is to provide a new level of efficiency and protection to our warfighter so that they may fight--and win--the new kind of wars that will face the United States of America in coming years.

Mr. Chairman, we are a peaceful people. But recent months have shown the world that we will fight anywhere to defend our national security.

The men and women of our armed forces have made us proud. For them-- and their families--I urge adoption of the bill.