[Pages H10518-H10530]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

DEPARTMENTS OF LABOR, HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES, AND EDUCATION, AND
RELATED AGENCIES APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 2006

Mr. REGULA. Mr. Speaker, pursuant to House Resolution 559, I call up
the conference report on the bill (H.R. 3010) making appropriations for
the Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education, and
related agencies for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2006, and for
other purposes.
The Clerk read the title of the bill.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to House Resolution 559, the
conference report is considered read.
(For conference report and statement, see proceedings of the House of
November 17, 2005, at page H10383.)
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Regula) and the
gentleman from Wisconsin (Mr. Obey) each will control 30 minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Regula).
Mr. REGULA. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Mr. Speaker, today I think we are going to do a bill that will make
us proud to be Americans. Why do I say proud to be Americans? Because I
think this bill, more than any other, illustrates the compassion of the
American people. Why do we say that? Let me give you some examples that
are in this bill and are funded.

{time} 1230

Special education, programs to help young people that are disabled
for many different reasons. It is a matter of caring for them.
Centers for Disease Control, an agency that is in 43 countries around
the world watching out for us. We hear a lot about avian flu. We worry
about avian flu, but the people that are really doing this are
Americans in the Centers for Disease Control team that is out there in
these 43 Nations, ready to stand by and alert us if it becomes a
greater problem.
Education. The number one challenge of government today is to educate
people to compete in the world of tomorrow. If you read the literature,
you find more and more emphasis on the importance of education if a
nation is to remain strong, if a nation is to provide a standard of
living that the people expect, that we are used to enjoying in this
country. The competition is going to get tougher in the years ahead.
You only need to read Tom Friedman's book ``The World is Flat'' in
which it is pointed out how much is happening or talk to people that
have traveled, as is the case of my State superintendent, to countries
in the Far East, and realize how much emphasis is being put on
education. We in the United States need to do the same, and this bill
recognizes that.
Education, going back to Thomas Jefferson, was designed to give all
Americans through a system of public education, an equal opportunity to
their future.
Head Start. It is another program under education where we say to
children from areas and schools and homes where they may not get
somebody reading to them, may not have a chance to get that head start
they need going into the school program. Our authorizing committee, I
think, took a giant step forward on Head Start in authorizing it to
become more than just a welfare program, as was originally envisioned,
but actually providing that people that man the Head Start program have
some experience in education, that they do more than teach. The
literature makes it very clear that education does not start at the
first grade or even for that matter in the period ahead of that. It
starts early, early on, and Head Start is another example of the
compassion of America.
National Institutes of Health. We fund that in this bill. This is an
agency that is researching, finding cures. Every Member I am sure has
had parents in his office with a child with juvenile diabetes or with a
parent with Alzheimer's, pleading with us to do more in medical
research, to find cures; and this, again, illustrates the compassion of
America. We have more than doubled the amount of money going to NIH in
the last several years because we recognize that this is key to the
health of America, to find cures, to find new ways to address the
concerns of the people that all of us have seen in our office who are
pleading with us to do something.
This bill has 500 programs in it, 500 programs that help Americans,
and in many different ways.
Math and science, I have here a report just put out by a group
commissioned by two Senators and two House Members, and it is entitled
``Rising Above the Gathering Storm.'' Think about that title: ``Rising
Above the Gathering Storm.'' What is the gathering storm? The gathering
storm is the inability to compete as a Nation, and the thrust of this
report is to rise above that. Their number one recommendation is an
increase in America's talent pool by vastly improving K-12 science and
mathematics education.
We make that kind of a commitment in this bill. We do give extra
funding for math and science and recognize that in the world of
tomorrow for our young people to compete they need to have that
background.
Meals on Wheels, another example of compassion. If you have talked
with people that work in this program, mostly volunteers who take out
these meals, that allows seniors to stay in their homes for a longer
period of time, that allows them to see somebody if they are living
alone maybe once a day or more often in the week, a wonderful program
in terms of caring about people.
Afterschool programs, we fund those, and those of you who live
particularly in the big cities realize how important that is. I talked
this morning with a young man that is running an afterschool program in
the gentleman from Pennsylvania's (Mr. Sherwood) district, a member of
our committee, where he said how much they can help people with their
afterschool programs.
There are moneys in here to roll out the prescription drug program
because we have a responsibility in this committee to provide for the
administration of these programs.
Global AIDS. Global AIDS is in this bill, $100 million to address,
along with the money in the foreign operations bill that again is very,
very important; and I think we can be proud to be Americans.
That is what I said at the outset. I say it again, that when you look
at what we have funded in this bill, we have funding in this bill for
280 million Americans and over many billions of dollars to address the
needs of people, that addresses things that are very important in their
lives. I urge all the Members, before you rush to judgment on this
bill, realize that we are in this bill doing a lot of good things for
American citizens. Maybe it is not as much as you like, not many bills
ever are as much as people would like that have a high degree of
interest, but there is a lot of good in here.
There is a lot in here for special education. We increase it. We
increase NIH. More medical research to address those problems of
juvenile diabetes is an example that you hear about in your office;
more money for education, Title I.
More money for community health centers. Any of us who have those in,
and I hope most Members do, realize how important the community health
centers are to people who have no access, who do not have a family
doctor. It helps the hospitals because it means that people can go to
the community

[[Page H10519]]

health center instead of to the emergency room. We add money for that.
Community services block grants. Think of that title. Community
services, and we give block grants to communities to administer to
local problems. This is an example of a program that helps local
people.
LIHEAP, again, Americans recognizing that people in areas of severe
weather conditions need an additional helping hand, and that is
especially true in this time that we are living in where people need to
address the problems of excessive fuel costs.
So I cannot say enough. I hope all of my colleagues and the Members
that are listening to this, reading the bill, will take note of the
fact that whereas this may not be everything you like, this bill does a
lot of good. I do not think you want to go home and tell people you are
against more money for special education, for those that are least
fortunate, that you are against more money for education, for medical
research, for LIHEAP, for global AIDS, for people around the world that
are less fortunate than we are.
So, again, I say think on what the importance is of what you are
doing. Take pride in America. Take pride in the compassion of the
people of this Nation as embodied in this bill.
Mr. Speaker, the complete table of all the funding levels included in
the conference report has been printed in the Congressional Record as
of November 16; and for those of my colleagues who are wondering what
each of the programs might be of the 500, you can go to the Record of
November 16 and pick out a program that you might have a special
interest in.
Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to present before the House today the
conference report on the fiscal year 2006 appropriations for the
Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, Education and Related
Agencies.
Many of my colleagues are aware of the difficult choices we had to
make in this bill. In February, Congress received the President's FY
2006 budget request. In light of our budget deficit, the President's
request assumed a one percent cut in domestic spending, exempting both
defense and homeland security from this reduction. Our budget
resolution approved this recommendation. This cut, taken together with
required increases for implementing the prescription drug benefit
program, brings our bill to $1.4 billion below last year's level.
Let me emphasize, we made a commitment to reduce deficits.
Recognizing the will of this House, we have put together a bill that
best reflects the priorities of this body and does a good job of
meeting the needs of the American people.
The conference report has no budget gimmicks, no emergency spending
designations, and no earmarks.
So many of the programs in this bill play an important part in the
lives of American people. Peter Drucker, who passed away on Friday, was
considered by many to be the most influential management thinker of the
past century. He said, ``Successful enterprises create the conditions
to allow their employees to do their best work.'' A successful employee
needs adequate knowledge to thrive. I believe an investment in
education is an investment in people. We support teachers and students
by increasing funding for Title I by $100 million. Title I provides
additional resources to low-income schools to help principals, teachers
and students close education achievement gaps.
Many of my colleagues speak with me about the financial demands of
special education on their local school districts. In this bill,
funding for special education is increased by $100 million.
I believe the quality of classroom teachers and principals is one of
the most important factors that affect student achievement.
This bill provides $100 million to reward effective teachers and to
offer incentives for highly qualified teachers to teach in high-need
schools.
We provide $184 million for math and science initiative. TRIO, GEAR
UP, Vocational Education State Grants, and Adult Education, programs
have strong support from members of this body. These programs were
proposed for termination in the President's budget; however, we have
allocated over $3 billion for the continuation of these important
efforts.
The sharp rise in college costs continues to be a barrier to many
students. This bill provides the full amount needed to hold the maximum
Pell Grant at the current level of $4,050, over $800 million over FY
2005.
Healthcare is a critical part of a nation's economic development. Mr.
Speaker, as you know, many of the Community Health Centers have served
as America's health care safety net for the Nation's underserved
populations. Funding for the Community Health Centers is at $1.8
billion, an increase of $66 million over last year.
As a result of our commitment to the National Institutes of Health,
our citizens are living longer and better lives. We have provided over
$28 billion to NIH to support medical research, $150 million over FY
2005.
The Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program ensures that low-income
households are not without heating or cooling, and provides protection
to our most vulnerable populations, the elderly, households with small
children, and persons with disabilities. Given the anticipated high
costs of energy due to Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, we have provided
over $2.2 billion for FY 2006.
In the Department of Labor, we have provided nearly $3 billion for
workforce training programs. These programs will ensure that our
dislocated workers and most disadvantaged youth will return to gainful
employment.
Mr. Speaker, in order to implement more than 400 provisions of the
Medicare Modernization Act and ensure senior citizens receive the
prescription drug benefits we provided in MMA, we have allocated nearly
$1 billion over the FY 2005 level to the Centers for Medicare &
Medicaid Services and Social Security Administration. While benefits
that both of these agencies provide come through mandatory spending via
the Ways and Means Committee, this bill provides the funding for the
agencies' administrative costs.
Much more could be said about this bill, but given the allocation, we
have produced a fair, balanced and responsible bill that best meets the
needs of the American people.
Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. OBEY. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself 11 minutes.
Mr. Speaker, the gentleman from Ohio is my friend. I have a great
deal of respect for him, and I know he tries to do the best job with
the tools he is given. The problem is that he has been given a totally
inadequate set of tools.
``This is the budget that you get when you elect a Republican White
House, a Republican House of Representatives, and a Republican
Senate.'' I did not say that. The former majority leader of the
Republican caucus said that, the gentleman from Texas (Mr. DeLay).
This is the day when the price of Republican tax cuts for the wealthy
becomes quite clear, on this bill and on the bill that will follow, the
reconciliation bill.
This is the day when this Congress chooses to walk away from its
investments: obligations in education, health care, job training and
the like. This is the bill which shortchanges the Social Gospel. This
is the day that we pass legislation that chooses to make the lives of
the most privileged among us quite a bit more pleasant because of their
tax cuts while at the same time we are making the lives of the poor
just a little bit more desperate.
This is a growing country. It has growing problems. It has growing
opportunities. If this bill does not grow with it, then we lose ground;
and we are certainly losing ground under this bill today.
This is the bill for education, health, social services, worker
protection programs. This is the guts of the Federal effort to try to
see to it that, regardless of one's station in life, people have the
greatest possible opportunity to get ahead.
Yet, this bill is $1.5 billion on a program-for-program basis, once
you cut out the funny accounting, this is a bill which is $1.5 billion
below last year.
The Department of Labor, funding in that Department: $37 million
below the House bill, $193 million below the Senate bill.
There are 7.5 million Americans out of work. Yet the bill cuts $437
million out of training and employment services. That is the lowest
level of adult training grants in a decade.
This bill also cuts the Community College Initiative, the President's
initiative for community colleges, an effort to train workers for high-
skill, high-paying jobs. It cuts that effort by $125 million and
rescinds $125 million from funds provided last year, denying the help
that the President was talking about giving to 100,000 Americans.
State unemployment insurance and employment service offices are cut
by $245 million, eliminating help for 1.9 million people.
The International Labor Affairs Bureau will certainly have a hard
time protecting American workers from being undercut by child and slave
labor abroad after this program has been cut by 20 percent.
In the health and human services area, this bill cuts health care to
the

[[Page H10520]]

poor and underserved rural areas of the country. It eliminates the
community access program that helps coordinate services and programs to
provide health care to people who do not have it.
This bill cuts by 69 percent health professions training. This bill
cuts by 73 percent funding for rural health outreach.
We have only about 10 percent of physicians in America who practice
in rural areas, and yet one-fourth of the U.S. population lives in
those areas. We have huge shortages of health care providers in urban,
underserved areas as well, but training grants for health care
professionals are cut by $206 million.

{time} 1245

We have the Maternal/Child Health Care Block Grant. That program is
cut by 20 percent below fiscal 2002 levels, and we have a 24 percent
cut in block grants for State health departments. And then, all of us
are going to run home and brag about how much we have done to prepare
the country for public health disasters.
My friend talked about the National Institutes of Health. We have the
smallest increase for NIH in 36 years, and under that budget, because
funding for NIH does not keep pace with inflation, we will actually see
500 fewer research grants coming out of NIH than we would have seen 2
years ago. We have effectively ended the President's initiative to
expand the number and the capacity of community health centers around
the country, $238 million less than the President requested. For the
low-income heating assistance program, our oil companies, one company,
$10 billion profit the last quarter. We expect to see natural gas
prices rise 46 percent, home heating oil prices rise 28 percent, and
yet we freeze the program that is supposed to provide help to people to
pay their bills so they do not have to choose between heating and
eating, and we only serve 15 percent of the persons who are eligible to
be served under that program.
Education: This is the first cut in education funding in a decade.
Education programs under the No Child Left Behind rubric are cut by
$784 million below last year. That is $13 billion below the
authorization, and on a cumulative basis, it is some $40 billion short
of what we promised we would have provided these past years since we
passed No Child Left Behind.
Title I is up $100 million. That is in comparison to a $600 million
increase that came from that well-known ``liberal'' George W. Bush.
Special education, it is up $100 million in comparison to the $508
million request from the President of the United States.
Because we mandated that local school districts provide service to
special education children, we are supposed to be providing 40 percent
of the cost. This bill actually reduces the Federal share of that cost
from 18.6 to 18 percent. That is going in the wrong direction.
The Comprehensive School Reform Program, totally wiped out. The
Goodling Even Start Program, named after Bill Goodling, the former
Republican chairman of the Education Committee, cut by 56 percent.
Education technology cut by 45 percent, and that comes on top of a 28
percent cut that was made last year. We cut Safe and Drug-Free Schools
by 20 percent in this bill. We freeze afterschool programs for the 4th
year in a row. That means that there are 14 million kids in this
country who want those services who will not get them. And I could go
on and on.
On higher education, the college board tells us that the 4-year cost
of attending a public university has increased by $3,100 over the past
5 years. The President's answer was to raise the Pell Grant maximum by
100 bucks. A $100 solution to a $3,100 problem. The Congress said ``No,
that is too much.'' The House cut it to $50. This conference report
totally eliminates it, totally eliminates it. No increase in the
maximum grant. And then in the reconciliation bill that follows today,
they are going to add $8 billion more in costs to students who borrow
money to go to college. And then this bill freezes all other student
aid programs, SEOG, Work-Study, Perkins, TRIO, GEAR UP. It freezes
title VI foreign language program.
The backlog at Social Security, those caseload backlogs are going to
increase. This bill provides $189 million less than the President
asked, $80 million less than was in the House bill, $130 million less
than the Senate bill. And we do all of this in order to free up
necessary room so the Republican Party can deliver on its $100,000-plus
tax cuts for people who make 1 million bucks.
This is going in the wrong direction. These priorities are wrong.
This bill is a disgrace. The gentleman would have provided a much
better bill if he had been given a decent allocation, but he was not.
So he did not have the tools to do it. There is no reason to vote for
this bill.
Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. REGULA. Mr. Speaker, I yield 5 minutes to the gentleman from New
York (Mr. Walsh), a very productive and important member of our
subcommittee.
Mr. WALSH. Mr. Speaker, I thank Chairman Regula for yielding me this
time. And I thank him for not only his work product today, but for his
many, many years of service to this country and to this Congress. He
has been a remarkable leader throughout his career, and there is no one
in this House who can question his sincerity or his knowledge of the
issues that he is responsible for.
I rise today in strong support of this bill. We will hear much from
the other side of the aisle about what is missing from this bill, why
we are not spending enough in this bill. We are spending $142 billion
on the needs of our American citizens. That is more money than the
entire budgets, the entire budgets, of Russia, China, Germany, and we
could throw in 15 or 20 other countries. This is more money than they
spend on their entire budget including their military. It is a pretty
remarkable commitment to our Nation and to our fellow citizens. This is
money that does not come easy. This does not come from God. This comes
out of people's pockets.
We are going to hear an awful lot about these tax cuts. Well, we have
tried to reduce the tax burden on Americans who are paying for these
benefits. They pay for these benefits out of the goodness of their
heart. First of all, they have to pay taxes to help support our
government. We take that money, we turn it around, and most of the
money we spend goes toward helping our fellow Americans, and that is
what this bill is all about.
Congressman Bill Natcher, God rest his soul, used to refer to this as
``the people's bill.'' This is the bill that helps educate our kids,
that helps keep us healthy, that pays for Social Security and Medicare
and Medicaid and all of our Federal health programs. And I do not know
how anyone, except for nibbling around the edges, could criticize an
effort where we are spending these tremendous amounts of money to help
those among us who are less fortunate.
But there is also the argument that we will hear on the other side of
the aisle about our deficits, that our deficits are too high, our
deficits are growing, our deficits, our deficits, our deficits; but
every time we bring a bill to the floor, there is not enough money in
it. They cannot have both ways. They cannot rail against deficits and
then tell us that we need to spend more money on every program in the
Federal budget.
There is no question these are difficult choices, but I think if I
were going to entrust my decisions on these things to anyone, it would
be to Congressman Regula, who has been doing this for so many years.
There are a lot of problems in our country, lots of them, and we have
them in our home towns, our big cities, our rural areas, and this is an
effort to deal with those problems.
For example, our party, we have, since we have become the majority,
provided billions and billions more in dollars for education,
remembering that the education dollar, public education, was 95 percent
State and local funds. Now it is about 92 because we have so
dramatically increased our contribution to that. And yet 50 percent of
the kids who start high school in the United States today do not finish
high school. That is a tragedy and it is atrocious, and it shows it is
not just about the money. It is about parents, it is about school
boards, it is about teachers, it is about kids, getting it right,
taking a serious look at

[[Page H10521]]

our public educational system in this country and realizing, as so many
have said, that we are headed in the wrong direction. We are increasing
resources to try to help with that, and we are trying to improve our
math and science education because we are not competing with the rest
of the world. But this bill makes a valiant effort to fund those needs.
We are also providing billions and billions of dollars for health
care. In this bill we are not even talking about the brand new Medicare
prescription drug benefit, the $400 billion prescription drug benefit
that Congress just enacted that is just taking place today. Again, what
a remarkable response by the Government of the United States to the
needs of our senior citizens, because everybody knows that health care
in this country has changed. People do not just go to the hospital
anymore to get an operation. They go to the doctor, they get
prescription drugs. The prescription drugs help them to live long,
healthy, quality lives. And because of these programs like Medicare,
Medicare prescription drugs, Social Security, we now have the
healthiest and wealthiest group of senior citizens that the world has
ever seen. This is a continuing commitment to that.
I urge my colleagues to forget about the nibbling around the edges
and support a good solid bill that will help our fellow Americans.
Mr. OBEY. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself 15 seconds.
Mr. Speaker, the gentleman brags about the additional money that the
Republican Congress has put into education. President Clinton and the
Democrats had to drag them kicking and screaming into providing that
money. We provided $19 billion more in education since they took over
the Congress than would have been provided if we had simply passed the
Republican House bill.
Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the distinguished gentleman from
Illinois (Mr. Jackson).
(Mr. JACKSON of Illinois asked and was given permission to revise and
extend his remarks.)
Mr. JACKSON of Illinois. Mr. Speaker, I know the subcommittee
chairman, the ranking member, and the majority and minority staff, did
the best they could under the circumstances. But I think cutting title
VII health professions by 69 percent, eliminating some title VII
programs entirely, is draconian and unconscionable.
Since I started serving on this subcommittee almost 7 years ago, I
have fought to end disparities, disparities in employment, disparities
in education, disparities in health. And health disparities are real.
If one is black in this country, their life expectancy is 66 years. If
one is white in this country, it is 74 years. Infant mortality is twice
as high for African American babies as it is for white babies.
Fortunately, institutions like the Institute of Medicine of the
National Academy of Sciences have laid out a framework on how to end
these disparities. One of the recommendations of the IOM was to
increase the number of minority health professions. This mark does
exactly the opposite, cutting health professions by almost $200
million.
Mr. Speaker, in the Centers of Excellence Program, this cut will
eliminate 30 programs at Minority Serving Institutions, negatively
impacting approximately 1,000 under-represented minority students and
almost 180 under-represented faculty at these schools.
In the Faculty Loan Repayment Program, approximately 40 under-
represented staff persons will lose their jobs. In the Health Careers
Opportunity Program, 7,000 minority disadvantaged students will be
negatively impacted and 3,000 K through 12 students will be negatively
impacted.
Mr. Speaker, this assault on minority serving programs is unjustified
and overtly irresponsible. I think that a society says a lot about the
way it treats its most vulnerable of its citizens. I believe that we
live in a United States and, like a chain, we are only as strong as our
weakest link. By leaving some of our citizens behind, we prove that we
are not strong and compassionate but weak and uncaring.
I keep hearing Members of this body say, Jessie, this is a tight
budget year. Mr. Speaker, this is a tight year. It was not created by
immaculate conception. Some of us voted to make it a tight budget year.
Some of us voted to approve the budget resolution. Saying it is going
to be a tough budget year is like a farmer saying he is going to have a
bad harvest because he did not plant any seeds. Mr. Speaker, when
Congress approved this budget resolution, we did not plant any seeds
and nothing will grow this year, not because of a natural disaster like
a drought, but because of our own making in this Congress. Shame on us.
The chairman and the subcommittee did the best they could, but this is
a terrible mark, and I urge a ``no'' on this bill.

{time} 1300

Mr. REGULA. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentlewoman from
Texas (Ms. Granger), a distinguished member of our subcommittee.
Ms. GRANGER. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of the Labor, Health,
Human Services and Education bill and say I am very proud to serve on
this committee. It is an important committee that serves the needs of
so many Americans in their daily lives. I want to say congratulations
to and state my great admiration for Chairman Regula in these difficult
times when he as the leader of this committee has had to make some very
tough choices.
The previous speaker said shame on us. I am not ashamed of this bill
at all. I am very proud of the work we are doing. I am proud, for
instance, of the $253 million increase to the National Institutes of
Health funding medical research that can make such a difference to the
health of Americans and to the health of this Nation, making us a
healthy Nation. I am proud that we have doubled the funding for the
National Institutes of Health while I have been on this committee.
I am proud of the funding for the community health centers which have
been raised to $1.8 billion, serving the uninsured and the
underinsured. I have a community health center in my district. It is a
wonderful community partnership serving literally thousands of people
that were not being served otherwise. I am very proud of that funding,
and I am very proud of community health centers and what they do.
I am also proud about the funding for LIHEAP. It is $115 million over
the last year, serving the poorest citizens in our country, helping
with heating their homes, and those are citizens that are going to have
to get up every day and decide what bills they are going to pay. I am
proud of the work we have given them towards purchasing their
prescription drugs. This funding for LIHEAP really makes a difference
in their lives every single day.
I was a teacher before I left teaching and went into business, and
then came to Congress. I have watched our math and science scores, how
we worked so hard to bring those scores up so we can be competitive in
the world. Now we have $184 million for a math and science partnership
to strengthen our math and science education in K-12. This is something
we have to do, and we have talked about it year after year after year
to put that money where it is served best so we are not importing our
scientists, we are growing and building our scientists. This is a bill
I am very proud of. It is a difficult time, and the chairman has done a
great job.
Mr. OBEY. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself 15 seconds.
Mr. Speaker, the gentlewoman claimed there is a $115 million increase
in here for low income heating assistance. There is not. The formula
grant has been increased by $115 million, but the contingency portion
of the program has been reduced by $115 million. The net result: no
help in the teeth of huge energy increases.
Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from California (Mr.
George Miller).
Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman
from Wisconsin (Mr. Obey) for all of his work on the legislation, and I
thank the chairman of the subcommittee for all of his work. Like so
many others who have already spoken, it is clear they were not dealt a
very fair hand, or the hand that they needed, to take care of needs of
this country.
I am most disappointed in the funding of No Child Left Behind. At a
time when school districts are entering into the most expensive part of
No Child Left Behind, when they are being required to restructure
entire school districts, entire schools, when they are

[[Page H10522]]

trying to meet the demand and the requirement of a law that we have a
highly qualified teacher in every classroom, which requires substantial
retraining of teachers, the attracting of new teachers, the paying of
incentives for teachers to go to the most difficult schools, at that
very time the Federal Government walks away from the commitment under
No Child Left Behind. The Federal Government starts to decrease its
participation when the States and the school districts and our schools
need it more than ever.
It really shows such little confidence in the future of our young
children. It shows such little confidence in the ability of our school
districts to restructure themselves to meet the demands being placed
upon them. We see cuts here in technology grants that are absolutely
essential for the future education of our children. We see teacher
quality grants cut. Those are absolutely essential to improve the
quality of our teachers in our classroom so they can engage in that
kind of professionalism.
What is most startling is that these cuts in education come at a time
when, I am not saying put more money in education, Mr. Obey is not
telling you that, but the American business community is telling you
this is the most crucial thing you can do. The American Electronics
Association, made up of some of the most successful companies in the
history of this country, their number one priority was to fully fund No
Child Left Behind. The Semiconductor Association: fully fund No Child
Left Behind, put money into graduate school education, put money into
highly qualified teachers. And this budget goes in exactly the other
direction.
We do not have the confidence that is necessary and demanded of this
country in the future and the confidence in these young people and the
necessary investments to be made in them. It is so discouraging to see
the lack of confidence in our young people that this budget
demonstrates.
Mr. REGULA. Mr. Speaker, I yield 4 minutes to the gentleman from
Georgia (Mr. Kingston), a member of the Committee on Appropriations.
Mr. KINGSTON. Mr. Speaker, I want to say back during the spring we
went through our annual budget process. The Budget Committee has
testimony from all sectors of society and the government who are
affected by the budget. It is a good debate.
In the final analysis, that budget came to the floor and after weeks
and months of discussion and arm twisting, it passed by a vote of 214-
212. I may be wrong on this, I do not think any of the Democrats voted
for it. Most of the Democrats, I would say, are very consistent saying
we should be spending more money and, therefore, they voted against it.
But there are other Democrats who are saying look at the deficit, look
at this, look at that. Boy, these Republicans are spending too much.
There is clearly a mixed signal here, and clearly some dissension in
the Democratic ranks.
But when you pass a budget in the spring and it is passed by this
body and the other body, then the subcommittees of Appropriations have
to follow that budget. That is what this does. Sometimes making these
decisions is very, very tough.
This bill actually eliminates 29 lower-priority programs. One of the
programs I am a supporter of, the National Youth Sports Program, I like
that program. They operated in Savannah. But when you look at the
context of some of the other programs and you realize this is run by
the NCAA, the National Collegiate Athletic Association, and they are
the same people who put on the Rose Bowl, the Rose Bowl alone generates
$30 million in revenue. Perhaps they can replace the $18 million that
Congress is putting into it right now. There are ways to keep these
programs alive even though the Federal Government is not picking up the
tab for them.
It is my hope on these 29 programs that are terminated, that the
local, the State level will step in, the private sector will step in;
and a lot of what they are doing are duplicated in other programs. I
have to say that these are very important.
I have to say also, Mr. Speaker, that I had a lot of local programs
that were eliminated. These are programs which I have worked very hard
on over the years to try to get into this budget. Those were the
earmarks: Memorial Hospital in Savannah, Georgia; St. Joseph's Hospital
in Savannah, Georgia; a project for the city of Moultrie; the Warner
Robbins Aviation Museum; the Civil Rights Museum in Savannah, Georgia;
and Brunswick Hospital. These were a lot of good programs that I
personally hoped to get in, things that were within the budget that
were doable. And yet in the end because of the legislative process, all
earmarks had to be eliminated.
I was not happy about that, but I understand. In the bigger picture
of things, you have to do what the body can pass, what there are votes
for.
In this case, where did the money go? It went to community health
clinics. It goes to Medicare modernization and medical research.
Incidentally, we talk about the NIH. The funding for the NIH has
doubled under Republican leadership under a commitment made by the
former Speaker, Mr. Gingrich. I have to say, I am a little disappointed
in what we have gotten for our money. I have not seen a plethora of
medical solutions and new devices and vaccines and all kinds of other
research that I had hoped doubling the NIH budget would give us.
Nonetheless, NIH still gets an increase under this bill.
The bill also restores community service block grants. Lots of things
like the Job Corps program are funded in this bill. Despite its
tightness in some areas, Mr. Regula has worked with the committee to
put on what I think is a solidly balanced bill and face the economic
realities of today with today's budget.
Mr. OBEY. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the distinguished
gentleman from Alaska (Mr. Young).
Mr. YOUNG of Alaska. Mr. Speaker, reluctantly I stand here and oppose
this legislation, primarily because we did earmark some money last year
for programs, and now we are just cutting them off period, no
prewarning, no salaries, no billing rent, no heat, nothing, just
kicking them out. I do not think that is the right thing to do.
If you had grandfathered those programs in, I believe it would be a
lot better. I would like to ask the gentleman from Ohio, do you save
any money or does the money just go back into the other programs that
your committee decided ought to get funding?
Mr. REGULA. Mr. Speaker, will the gentleman yield?
Mr. YOUNG of Alaska. I yield to the gentleman from Ohio.
Mr. REGULA. In terms of earmarks, a proposal was made that we take an
additional $2 billion as emergency spending, and half of that would
have been for earmarks. But we did not do that.
Mr. YOUNG of Alaska. Does the actual number save any money? Does it
save any money?
Mr. REGULA. The fact that there are no earmarks?
Mr. YOUNG of Alaska. Yes.
Mr. REGULA. Absolutely, a billion dollars.
Mr. YOUNG of Alaska. Just remember, you should have grandfathered
those existing programs in place. You just killed them.
Mr. OBEY. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from New
York (Mrs. Lowey).
Mrs. LOWEY. Mr. Speaker, I reluctantly rise in opposition to the
fiscal year 2006 Labor-HHS Conference Report. However, I wanted to
express my sincere appreciation to the gentleman from Ohio (Mr.
Regula), the ranking member, the gentleman from Wisconsin (Mr. Obey),
and their staffs for their hard work on this legislation.
The bill should address many of our most important priorities, from
education funding, worker training, to biomedical research and public
health activities. Unfortunately, it falls short.
For the first time in 10 years, the bill actually cuts funding for
the Department of Education. The bill provides the smallest increase
for the National Institutes of Health in 36 years. Despite the fact
that college costs have increased by 34 percent since 2001, the bill
freezes the maximum Pell grant for the fourth year in a row.
At a time when States are being asked to bear an increasingly larger
burden for preparing for and responding to public health emergencies,
this bill cuts funds for State and local health departments by $127
million.

[[Page H10523]]

And the bill includes a rescission of $125 million from New York
State Worker's Compensation Programs intended for sick and injured
workers from September 11. The President made a $20 billion commitment
to the people of New York following September 11. The rescission breaks
that promise.
While these and other programs are on the chopping block today, the
bill provides a $10 million increase for abstinence-until-marriage
programs, despite mounting evidence of the scientific and medical
inaccuracy of their curricula and ineffective results.
Mr. Speaker, I also want to express my continued concerned with the
Weldon refusal clause included in this bill. For over 30 years, there
have been Federal laws that allow doctors, nurses, and hospitals to
refuse to provide abortion services because of their religious beliefs.
However, this provision extends that protection to HMOs, insurance
companies, and makes no exception for medical emergencies.
States that attempt to protect access to health services can be
denied all of their Federal health, education, and labor funding. My
colleagues, we had an alternative to this misguided and dangerous
language. The Senate bill contained a provision that would protect
doctors' consciences while ensuring that women still have access to the
services and referrals they need.
Unfortunately, the House majority rejected the Senate's reasonable
compromise in favor of maintaining a policy designed to limit women's
access to reproductive health services.
Mr. Speaker, it is because of these flaws that I simply cannot
support this final conference report.
Mr. REGULA. Mr. Speaker, I yield 4 minutes to the gentleman from
Florida (Mr. Weldon).

{time} 1315

Mr. WELDON of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I thank the chairman for
yielding, and I want to commend the gentleman for his outstanding work
on this piece of legislation. The chairman is, I believe, well noted on
both sides of the aisle for being a very compassionate and caring
person, but as well a responsible adult.
When I travel around my congressional district, yes, it is true there
are certain groups that would like to see areas of this bill increased.
The things I hear overwhelmingly and most loudly is that these are
difficult times. We have had tremendous outlays and expenditures with
Hurricane Katrina, the war in Iraq and that we really need to hold the
line on spending. And what this bill does, I believe, is unprecedented
in my 11 years of being here in the House of Representatives. It
actually reduces spending from last year. So this is not
Washingtonspeak gimmicks where you take a 7 percent increase and reduce
it to a 6.9 percent increase and scream and yell about that being a
cut. This is a real reduction in spending, and I think it is quite
impressive. It eliminates 21 existing programs and cancels eight new
programs.
What Chairman Regula has done is adopted a philosophy which I think
everybody in the Congress should adopt, look at programs very seriously
and are they getting the job done. And if they are not, they should be
eliminated. And contrary to Reagan's statement that the only thing that
has eternal life in Washington, D.C. is a Federal program, Chairman
Regula has been able to reduce and eliminate 21 existing programs
because they were not effective.
Within that context, the bill includes, I think, a number of
important increases along the lines of what I believe the American
people want to see. They are small in the budget realities we are
dealing with now, nonetheless, they are real. The Pell Grant amount was
increased so that we could keep the size of the grant the same.
Additionally, there are some small increases for special education and
title 1. I want to particularly commend the chairman for holding the
line on the Weldon language. We have had in this bill for, as I
understand it, decades, conscience protections for health care
providers that do not want to perform abortions.
But in recent years, very aggressive abortion rights advocates have
been putting pressure, using regulatory agencies and State governments
and courts on hospitals and other institutions to begin performing
abortions when the officials and the workers in those institutions did
not want to do that. And what we have done is held the existing
language from last year, which, I think, is the right policy for the
Congress. It is the right policy for the American people. So I commend
all my colleagues to vote for this bill. It is a good piece of
legislation. It is the right thing for this country at this time and
our history with the challenges that we face today.
Mr. OBEY. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the distinguished
gentlewoman from Connecticut (Ms. DeLauro).
Ms. DeLAURO. Mr. Speaker, the work of this subcommittee has always
reflected our priorities as a Nation, helping provide services that
help us meet our most basic needs, health, our children's education,
our scientific research, challenges only the Federal Government has the
ability, the capacity and the resources to help us meet. The problem
with the funding in this conference report is that it fails to meet
that threshold.
Worker training, funded at levels below last year. The National
Institutes of Health, where this subcommittee made historic progress,
doubling our investment in medical research. Name the disease,
childhood leukemia, Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, HIV, the work of the NIH
has prolonged or improved the life of every single American.
The funding level for the National Institutes of Health does not even
meet inflation. Health professions are cut in half. Head Start is
funding below last year's level. And with the cost of a college
education skyrocketing, this conference report flat funds Pell Grants,
meaning the maximum award is exactly the same as it was last year.
Funding for the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program, at last
year's level, will prove disastrous for low income families.
This bill fails to invest in any of the priorities important to the
American people. And the American people are tired of the Congress
spending trillions in tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans at the same
time they are told we simply do not have the resources to invest in
things that impact their daily lives. We can make those investments,
but only, only if we make them a priority.
That is what the American people want and expect from their
government. You ask any middle class family what is more important to
them, tax cuts for wealthy Americans, or lowering the cost of health
care, home heating costs or college. They will tell you they want
something that makes a difference in their lives and their family's
lives. Vote against this conference report.
Mr. REGULA. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from
Indiana (Mr. Pence).
Mr. PENCE. Mr. Speaker, I rise simply to express profound gratitude
for the leadership that Chairman Ralph Regula has provided in bringing
this extraordinary measure to the floor. I also commend the Chairman of
the Appropriations Committee, the gentleman from California, for his
leadership.
The challenge of being in the spending branch of government is to
fund the Nation's priorities and to live within our means. And this
legislation for fiscal year 2006, with Labor, Health and Human Services
and Education, does just that.
The story goes that Chairman Ralph Regula was at the White House, saw
Ronald Reagan and they talked about the fence at the Reagan ranch. And
a day later, Ralph Regula received a handwritten set of instructions
about how to build a fence that is on the wall of his office today.
What is clear today to House conservatives is that Ralph Regula
learned more than just how to build a fence from Ronald Reagan. He
learned how to fund the Nation's priorities with the fiscal discipline
that characterizes this governing party. And for that, I am grateful.
Mr. OBEY. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Arizona
(Mr. Flake).
Mr. FLAKE. Mr. Speaker, I too want to commend those who worked to get
the earmarks out of the bill. But I just wanted to point out that not
all the earmarks are out of the bill. In the bill,

[[Page H10524]]

we have $1.25 million for the Center For Excellence in Native Hawaiian
Law at the University of Hawaii, $1.2 million for the Hawaiian
Department of Education for school construction, $2 million to the
Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians for cultural and education funding,
$5 million for America's Promise.
Now these may well be good programs, but they should not be funded in
this bill that says that all the earmarks are gone.
We also violated a House rule where we were naming two Federal
facilities after sitting Members of Congress. The Center for Disease
Control headquarters is being renamed the Arlen Specter Headquarters
and Emergency Operations Center. We are renaming the communication
center at the CFDC the Thomas R. Harkin Global Communications Center.
We should not be doing this. If we are getting rid of the earmarks, we
ought to get rid of all of them.
Mr. REGULA. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. OBEY. Mr. Speaker, I yield 4\1/2\ minutes to the gentleman from
Maryland (Mr. Hoyer), the distinguished minority whip.
Mr. HOYER. Mr. Speaker, I am sorry that the gentleman from Indiana
(Mr. Pence) left the floor. The majority party neither funds the
appropriate priorities in this bill nor meets its responsibilities for
fiscal sound management of the Federal Government. It has taken this
Nation $3 trillion into additional debt in the last 56, 58 months.
During the last 4 years of the Clinton administration, we did not have
to increase the debt once, not once.
Mr. Speaker, this appropriations conference report betrays our
Nation's values and its future. It is neither compassionate,
conservative nor wise, and I will vote against it.
Our colleagues on the other side of the aisle, including my
Republican friends on the Labor Health Committee, claim that there is
little they can do to improve the funding levels in this key domestic
program. They say that they have no options, no alternative, that they
are only complying with the funding levels dictated by the Republican
budget resolution, a resolution which results in an additional almost
trillion dollars in additional debt.
But let me remind them, you voted for that budget resolution and you
cannot have it both ways. You cannot vote for draconian cuts in April
and disclaim responsibility when those cuts are enacted in November.
At a time when we should be striving to make American schools and
American students the best and the most competitive in the world, this
bill insures that our Nation falls further and further behind.
Unconscionably, this conference report cuts the Federal investment in
education below current levels by $59 million, for the first time in a
decade. And it cuts funding for No Child Left Behind by $784 million,
3.2 percent cut, below the current level. This means that we have now
reached a $40 billion cumulative shortfall below the amount we promised
our children when President Bush signed this bill into law. We do
nothing in this bill to make higher education more accessible.
In my State, and I am sure in the chairman's State, and the chairman
I do not criticize. He is given what he is given and he does the best
he can. But in my state, costs have gone up for college kids and their
families. Despite the President's 2000 campaign promise to increase the
maximum Pell Grant to $5,100, despite that promise, this bill freezes
the maximum Pell Grant at over 25 percent below that, at $4,050. For
the fourth year in a row, that promise has been broken, while tuition
and fees have increased 46 percent since 2001.
However, the inappropriate funding levels in this conference report
should not surprise anyone. They are the inevitable consequence, and I
am glad my friend from Indiana has returned, because the budget
deficits confronting this Nation and the underfunding of priorities in
this Nation are the inevitable consequence of the fiscal policies of
the Republican majority and this administration, policies that starve
the government resources.
So let everyone here and everyone watching at home understand, the
funding levels contained in this conference report are the direct
consequence of the Republican Party's failed economic policies that
have spawned record budget deficits. Why? Because the next bill that is
coming down the line will cut taxes by some $70 billion. As the
gentleman from Alaska (Mr. Young) asked, is it saving money? It is not.
And those failed policies are the proximate cause of this woefully
underfunded and unacceptable conference report.
When we started on this budget disaster, Jim Nussle, Republican
leader of the Budget Committee said this: ``We do not touch Social
Security. It does not touch Medicare. In fact, this budget accomplishes
the largest reduction of the debt held by the public in our history.
The bill does not change in one way, shape or form. And by the end of
10 years, this budget will have eliminated the debt held by the
public.''
In fact, it has taken, contrary to Mr. Nussle's representations, $3
trillion, with a T, additional debt has been accumulated under these
budgets. All they do is underfund priorities and adopt fiscally
irresponsible policies. What a shame for America. Together America can
do better.
Mr. REGULA. Mr. Speaker, I continue to reserve my time.
Mr. OBEY. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the distinguished
gentlewoman from California (Ms. Woolsey).
Ms. WOOLSEY. Mr. Speaker, the budget and appropriation bills that we
pass here in the House are reflective of our values as leaders in this
country. H.R. 3010 reflects very poorly on this Congress. Four years
ago, when we passed the No Child Left Behind Act, we told schools that
we wanted them to be accountable for results and that we would provide
them with the resources necessary to achieve these results.
Today, we know that the President and the Republican Congress have
utterly failed to keep the bipartisan promise to students, to parents,
to teachers, to provide schools with the resources called for by No
Child Left Behind.
If we pass this bill, we will have shortchanged our Nation's children
by more than $40 billion over the past 4 years. This is only one of the
many, many, many ways that this bill fails to invest in the American
people and their children. And I urge my colleagues to oppose it.

{time} 1330

Mr. OBEY. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the distinguished
gentleman from Rhode Island (Mr. Kennedy).
Mr. KENNEDY of Rhode Island. Mr. Speaker, I thank you for the
opportunity to say a few words about why I think this bill is a bill
that says that the best days of this country are behind us, not before
us. I call attention to some statistics, statistics that say the high
school dropout over the course of their life will earn $260,000 less
than a graduate. This legislation, I think, does very little to support
more students graduating from high school when it cuts after-school
programs by 25 percent. If you spread that across 23 million high
school dropouts in this country, that adds up to $50 billion a year
less in taxes.
So if we are really concerned about generating more taxes, we ought
to be investing in our people, not taking away the kinds of resources
that contribute to their ability to become greater taxpayers in this
country.
Mr. Speaker, $1 invested in preschool leaves $7 saved in welfare,
health care and criminal justice. Let's invest in our people.
Mr. OBEY. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time.
A previous majority Member said today that this bill represented
fiscal responsibility. The fact is the Republican Party will provide,
over the next decade, $1.2 trillion in tax cuts to people who make over
$1 million a year. Yet in this bill, they will freeze student loans,
they will allow people without health care to increase in number by 2
million, they will provide the first cut in education in a decade, they
will cut safe and drug-free schools by 20 percent, and they will slash
the President's initiative for math and science education.
In the teeth of the fact that they have given $14 billion in
subsidies to the big energy companies, they then say to low-income
people who have to pay those higher prices, ``Sorry. Despite the fact
you're going to have a

[[Page H10525]]

huge increase in home heating costs, we're not going to give you a dime
in additional money in this bill.''
That is what they do. What we are going to see today in the
reconciliation bill and in this bill is a double whammy on the most
vulnerable people in this society. That is wrong morally and it is
wrong economically. We hear a lot of talk on this floor about
preserving life. Yet this program is going to cut maternal and child
health care by 20 percent below the 2001 level. How is that going to
encourage women to carry their babies to term?
This bill falls far short of our responsibilities in meeting the
growing economic and social needs of this country. It ought to be
defeated. We should not put tax cuts for millionaires ahead of
providing basic education, basic health care and basic job protection
to America's working people.
I urge a ``no'' vote on the conference report.
Mr. REGULA. Mr. Speaker and my colleagues, I hope you will all weigh
carefully what your opportunity here is in terms of voting for this
bill. An opportunity to improve health research, an opportunity to
improve education in Title I, an opportunity to provide more money for
special education, an opportunity to ensure that LIHEAP is funded for
those in need, an opportunity to develop community health centers where
poor people can go to get help, where they can avoid having to run to
the emergency room. So many positive things.
As I said at the outset, this is a bill that makes you proud to be an
American. It illustrates the compassion of the American people. We have
heard from the other side how we are not doing enough. Let me point out
that in 1996 shortly after the Republican Party became a majority in
1994 and took responsibility, in 1996, the total of this bill was $65
billion. Here 10 years later, this bill is $142.5 billion, more than
double the amount of money that has been committed to the compassionate
programs of America, education, job training, medical research. We
could go on and on.
We heard the gentleman from California talk about qualified teachers.
I want to mention a special program in here. It is new. $100 million to
help get better qualified teachers in every classroom. Over and over
again we hear how important the teacher is to the education system. Not
only teachers but principals, good principals, good schools. We have
recognized the importance of this by committing $100 million. This bill
has $2 billion for homeland security. Again, this is important to the
American people. Homeland security in the form of CDC, checking around
the world in 43 locations to ensure that avian flu does not reach our
shores.
I could go on and on about the compassion of this bill in terms of
helping people. TRIO and GEAR-UP, programs to help people get into
college, to get that higher education that we all recognize is vital to
their future and to the future of this Nation.
And let me say to those of you who think that, well, the key to this
is to defeat the bill. If you defeat the bill, what is going to happen,
in all likelihood, it will give these responsibilities that are
embodied in this bill, the important programs for America will get
rolled into some form of an omnibus bill and will be a continuing
resolution. If that were to happen, priorities that are embodied in the
bill would be lost, the things that are so important to all the Members
of this body, but, moreover, far more important to the people of
America, 280 million people.
I urge a strong, positive vote for the bill so we can continue to
take pride in America and the compassion of the American people.
Mr. HASTERT. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of this conference report
funding the Departments of Labor, Health, Education, and other
agencies.
While not a perfect bill, it is a good bill. It represents another
step in this year's appropriation cycle for fiscal responsibility.
Earlier this year, Congress passed a budget. It was a tough budget
that reflected the difficult financial times we face.
It reined in spending on non-security activities for the first time
in a generation. This is not an easy task. It is tough to cut the
budget.
The conference report before us today $142.5 billion. This is
precisely the House-passed level, and nearly a half a billion dollars
less than last year.
To arrive at this number, the conferees had to work hard to reduce
the levels proposed by the other body that were $2.6 billion higher
than the accounts in the House-passed bill.
The conference report before us today does not include emergency
spending designations or funding gimmicks as proposed by the other
body.
The bill before us is lean. It prioritizes spending, contains some
real cuts, and provides some resources for high priority programs.
The bill proposes to terminate 29 programs, including 20 of the 50
programs proposed for termination in the bill that originally passed in
our chamber. Other programs proposed for termination by the House are
cut substantially from last year's level.
While reducing the overall size of the bill from last year, the House
conferees were able to increase funding in critical area, such as Pell
Grants, Special Education, and low income heating assistance and
bioterrorism preparedness.
For Community Health Centers, the final conference agreement provides
$1.8 billion, $66 million more than last year.
The conference report includes $100 million for a Teacher Incentive
Fund that will be a pilot program helping reward teachers with the
incentives to boost the quality of our education.
Generally, the increases in the conference report aren't big enough
for our Democratic friends but they reflect our effort to do the best
we could with the limited resources we had available.
I urge my colleagues to support the conference report.
Mr. MARKEY. Mr. Speaker, I rise in opposition to the Conference
Report.
This bill inadequately funds virtually every area of need. It slashes
$1.5 billion from our country's critical health, human services,
education and labor programs.
While the Bush administration has never fully funded the No Child
Left Behind Act, this bill goes a step further by actually cutting
total Federal education funding for the first time in a decade--cutting
No Child Left Behind by $14 billion below the authorized level,
slashing special education, safe and drug free schools, education
technology grants and freezing the maximum Pell grant award for the
fourth year in a row despite rising tuition costs.
While people are trying to get re-trained because their jobs have
been outsourced overseas, this bill cuts adult job training by $31
million and youth job training by $36 million.
At a time when we are trying to prepare our country for the aging of
the baby boomers and threat of pandemic flu, this bill cuts funding for
healthcare. It cuts the CDC's budget by $249 million and provides the
smallest percentage increase to NIH--less than 1 percent--since 1970.
It doesn't provide any money for pandemic flu preparedness and
eliminates 10 critical health care programs, including trauma care and
the health community access program and cuts the health professions
training grants by 69 percent making it even harder to recruit
qualified health professionals.
The bill before us today would also freeze funding for the Low-Income
Home Energy Assistance, LIHEAP, at $2.18 billion, counting both basic
formula grants and emergency grants--the FY 2005 level.
LIHEAP serves about 5 million households, the majority of which have
at least one member who is elderly, disabled, or a child under age
five.
LIHEAP appropriations have failed to keep up with rapid increases in
energy costs over the past several years.
The conference report is freezing LIHEAP even though consumers are
expected to pay 52 percent more for natural gas, 30 percent more for
home heating oil, and 11 percent more for electricity this winter.
Back in August, the Republican majority heralded the passage of their
massive energy bill, a bill that contained $14 billion in tax breaks--
most of them for wealthy oil, gas, coal and nuclear industries. At the
time, they argued that their bill was ``balanced'' because, among other
things, it provided $5.1 billion in annual authorizations for the
LIHEAP program.
But now, in this bill, we see that Republicans are not willing to
fully fund LIHEAP. Under this bill, the Republicans would freeze LIHEAP
funding at last year's level, despite the skyrocketing prices consumers
will be paying for natural gas and home heating oil this winter.
Later today, the Republicans will be bringing up their Reconciliation
bill, a bill that provides an additional $1 billion for LIHEAP. But in
the Energy and Commerce Committee, the Republicans voted against an
amendment offered by the gentleman from Illinois, Mr. Rush, the
gentleman from Texas, Mr. Green, and myself to increase LIHEAP funding
up to the full $5.1 billion level. The Republican leadership isn't even
going to allow Democrats to offer an amendment to increase LIHEAP
funding up to that level.

[[Page H10526]]

The Republicans won't fully fund LIHEAP because they have other
priorities. Their budget makes that quite clear. Tax cuts for
millionaires, tax cuts for the giant oil companies, weakening
environmental regulations for their business cronies. Those are the
priorities for the Republican-controlled Congress. Funding for
education, health care and low-income home energy assistance so that
seniors on fixed incomes, and poor families can heat their homes this
winter, are not their priorities.
I urge a ``no'' vote on this bill.
Mr. VAN HOLLEN. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to express my strong
opposition to the ill-conceived Conference Report for H.R. 3010, the
Labor-HHS-Education appropriations bill for fiscal year 2006.
This bill is flawed in so many ways and is a disservice to the
American people. It is the latest move in the steady drumbeat of a
Republican legislative agenda that makes working and middle class
Americans pay for the tax cuts that benefit the ultra-wealthiest
Americans. And it comes at a time when we are confronting the aftermath
of Hurricane Katrina and the huge costs of waging the ongoing war in
Iraq.
Overall, this conference report cuts education, health care, and
human services by $1.5 billion below what was spent on these efforts
last year. Meanwhile, Republicans plan to spend $11 billion this week
on a capital gains and dividend income tax cut that will provide 53
percent of its benefit to people making more than $1 million. Overall,
Republicans will spend more on tax cuts this week alone, $70 billion,
than on both the Department of Education and the Department of Labor,
$68 billion, for an entire year.
These are just a few victims of the Republican bill.
No Child Left Behind funding is cut by $784 million, the first time
NCLB will have been cut since the law was enacted. Title I, which is
the core of NCLB's efforts to improve reading and math skills, receives
the smallest increase in 8 years--only $100 million--which means 3.1
million low-income children will be left behind.
The maximum Pell grant is frozen for the fourth straight year, and no
new funding is provided for all other student financial aid and support
programs, even though college costs have increased by $3,095, 34
percent, since 2001.
Consumers are expected to pay 46 percent more for natural gas and 28
percent more for home heating oil this winter, yet Republicans refused
to increase funding for LIHEAP home heating assistance, which helps
keep the heat on for low-income seniors and children.

Nearly 46 million Americans are without health insurance yet
Republicans provide virtually no funding for new Community Health
Centers beyond those approved last year. Republicans also eliminate the
Healthy Communities Access Program, $83 million, and state planning
grants to improve health care coverage, $11 million.
The conference agreement does not include the $8.1 billion in
emergency funding provided in the Senate bill for pandemic flu
preparedness, or any part of the $7.1 billion requested by the
administration for that purpose.
The conference agreement freezes or cuts most programs below their FY
2005 levels, including the following:
International assistance grants to eradicate child labor and protect
worker rights through the Bureau of International Labor Affairs are cut
by 21.4 percent.
Community college training grants are cut by 50 percent in each of FY
2005 and FY 2006.
Unemployment insurance and employment service offices to help the
unemployed are cut by 6.7 percent.
Health professions training grants are cut by 69 percent.
The Healthy Communities Access Program is eliminated.
The Centers for Disease Control is cut by 3.9 percent.
Comprehensive school reform state grants are eliminated.
Even Start family literacy services are cut by 55.6 percent.
Education technology grants are cut by 44.6 percent.
The education block grant for local initiatives is cut by 49.6
percent.
Safe and drug free schools grants are cut by 20 percent.
Under the conference agreement, only a few programs receive modest
increases over FY 2005 and--in most cases--even these increases are
below the amounts sought by the administration. While the conference
agreement restores many of the 50 programs proposed for termination in
the House bill, these restorations were made at the expense of funding
for priority programs, such as community health services, Title 1
grants for low-income children, and special education grants, and Pell
grants.
NIH receives a mere 0.7 percent increase--this does not even keep
pace with inflation and does not meet our health research needs.
Title 1 grants for low-income children receive a 0.8 percent
increase--the smallest increase in 8 years.
Special education grants receive a 0.9 percent increase--the smallest
increase in a decade.
The maximum Pell grant is frozen at $4,050 for the fourth consecutive
year compared to the $4,100 provided in the House bill.
Mr. Speaker, the simple truth is that the bill cuts essential health
and education programs to pay for ill-conceived tax cuts. I do not
believe this bill reflects the priorities and values of the American
people. I urge my colleagues to vote against it.
Mr. OLVER. Mr. Speaker, I rise today with a heavy heart to talk about
the misguided conference report that the majority party has produced.
While the number of people living in poverty in this country
continues to rise, this conference report fails to adequately fund
programs that work to alleviate poverty. Despite the evidence, this
conference report cuts Head Start funding and freezes funding for
programs such as the Community Service Block Grant and LIHEAP.
As the number of Americans without health insurance sets new records
every day, this conference report is cutting funding to programs that
provide healthcare assistance to the uninsured. It eliminates the
Healthy Communities Access Program and imposes drastic cuts to Maternal
and Child Health funding and Rural Health Outreach. These cuts are in
addition to $11 billion in cuts to Medicaid that are included in the
majority party's reconciliation bill that may be voted on later today.
As the number of Americans unable to find a job continues to rise
this conference report issues devastating cuts to initiatives that help
put dislocated workers back in the labor force. Currently, 7.4 million
Americans are unemployed, yet this conference report cuts Unemployment
Insurance and Employment Services by $141 million.
At a time when this country should be investing in education and
human capital, this conference agreement cuts $784 million from No
Child Left Behind. It cuts funding for Even Start and Safe and Drug
Free Schools, and freezes funding for adult education. These cuts are
in addition to a reconciliation bill that cuts $14.3 billion from
student aid for college students.
Mr. Speaker, I came to Congress to find solutions to problems not
make them worse. We have a responsibility to ensure that all Americans
have an opportunity to share in America's prosperity. It is
irresponsible that we approve this conference report that cuts and
eliminates essential programs when there is such an obvious need for
the services they provide. I cannot in good conscience vote for this
conference report and I urge my colleagues to vote ``no.''
Mr. BLUMENAUER. Mr. Speaker, the fiscal year 2006 Labor, Health and
Human Services, Education and Related Agencies appropriations is not
just an underfunded bill but is harmful. A bill which should be a
stepping stone towards providing good education, employment
opportunities and access to affordable health care, instead takes away
important safeguards upon which Oregonians and Americans depend. It is
another example of how out of touch the Republican leadership is with
the rest of the Nation.
This bill shortchanges education programs and imposes a burden on our
college students. At a time when the global economy demands a highly
trained, educated workforce, we are making it more difficult for our
students to succeed by cutting financial aid programs, impacting over
90,000 Oregonians who are borrowing money to attend college. Oregonians
have already been saddled with at least a $1,000 increase in college
tuition over the last year. And while there are over 55 million
children in public schools nationwide and State budgets are already
stretched thin, No Child Left Behind funding is cut by $784 million.
Students are not the only ones feeling the squeeze. Several health
care programs are threatened or eliminated in the legislation. While
over 600,000 Oregonians are without health insurance, this bill
essentially eliminates many of the safety net clinics and community
health centers on which uninsured people depend. We may end up seeing
more people in emergency rooms with severe conditions that could have
been prevented with regular access to health care.
With over 7 million Americans out of work and over 100,000 Oregonians
unemployed, the bill cuts the Department of Labor by $430 million.
Without assistance the gap between the wealthy and the less fortunate
will continue to widen. Americans deserve better and it is
irresponsible to say that these eliminated programs and funding cuts
are the only way to solve our budgetary mess.
Mr. LARSON of Connecticut. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong opposition
to the conference report of H.R. 3010, the Labor-Health and Human
Services-Education Appropriations bill

[[Page H10527]]

for Fiscal Year 2006. This bill and the Republican majority are out of
touch with the needs of the American public.
This legislation is a question of priorities. It is unconscionable
that the Republican majority prepares to fund $70 billion in tax cuts
with cuts to key education, job training and health care programs. With
States across the country struggling to find the dollars to fully
implement No Child Left Behind, this bill would cut No Child Left
Behind funding by $784 million. With college tuition costs rising, this
bill would freeze Pell grant funding at last year's level. With energy
costs rising, this bill would also freeze Low-Income Home Energy
Assistance funding at last year's level. With 7.4 million Americans out
of work, this bill would cut $245 million for unemployment insurance
and employment services programs.
Additionally, this bill would provide the National Institute of
Health, NIH, which works to research and combat diseases like cancer
and chronic illnesses such as Alzheimer's, Parkinson's and ALS, with
the smallest funding level increase in 36 years. This bill would also
slash $31 million in funding for Preventive Health Block Grants and
provides virtually no funding for new Community Health Centers. This
bill fails to recognize the continued HIV/AIDS crisis by freezing
funding on virtually all components of the Ryan White AIDS Care
program, except AIDS Drug Assistance. In total, this bill ignores the
health needs of Americans.
This bill does not reflect the priorities of the American people. As
Members of Congress, we cannot abandon our obligations to our children,
to our parents and future generations by cutting vital programs to
finance tax cuts bigger than we can afford. I urge my colleagues to
reject the underlying bill and do better for the American people.
Mr. KUCINICH. Mr. Speaker, the vast education cuts brought before us
today in this conference agreement and additionally in the budget
reconciliation package that we may see today, are telling signs of the
priorities of this Congress. These cuts demonstrate, far better than
words ever could, that education is not a priority for this House.
This conference agreement provides a mere $11 million increase for
Head Start, a pivotal program for preschool-aged children in low-income
families across the Nation. At current funding levels, Head Start
serves approximately half of the children eligible for its services, a
wholly inadequate proportion. This program, which has repeatedly been
found to dramatically improve the academic performance of students
deserves much more than an $11 million increase.
The conference agreement cuts school improvement funding by 6 percent
and flat funds teacher quality grants. These grants, which are used to
recruit qualified teachers and support teacher development, are
critically important to efforts to improve student achievement.
Rather than strengthening the Pell Grant Program and increasing
access to higher education for low-income students, the conference
agreement maintains the current maximum Pell Grant of $4,050. At this
level, the maximum Pell Grant only covers 39 percent of tuition at the
average four-year public college, making a mockery of its status as the
foundation of student aid for the poorest students.
What are our priorities? The votes members cast today on this
conference agreement and the budget reconciliation later today, will
show their priorities. Do we place more value on tax cuts for the
wealthy or the education of our students? I urge my colleagues to join
me in prioritizing students' well-being and vote no on this conference
report and on the budget reconciliation package.
Mr. HOLT. Mr. Speaker, today I rise to oppose the Labor-HHS-Education
conference report, which is the most recent evidence that working and
middle class Americans are paying the price for the Republican economic
agenda of tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans. Not only does this
immoral budget fail to provide for what the American people need now,
it also fails to address what it will take to be economically
competitive in the future.
Overall, the conference report cuts education, health care, and human
services by $1.5 billion from what was spent on these efforts last
year. Meanwhile, Republicans will spend $11 billion this week on a
capital gains and dividend income tax cut that will provide 53 percent
of its benefit to people making more than $1 million per year. Their
plan spends more on tax cuts this week alone ($70 billion) than on both
the Department of Education and the Department of Labor ($68 billion)
for an entire year.
Funding for education is also cut by $784 million, the first time the
No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act will have been cut since the law was
enacted. Title I, which is the core of NCLB's efforts to improve
reading and math skills, receives the smallest increase in eight years.
Because it fails to keep pace with our growing population, 3.1 million
low-income children will be left behind.
A program for which I have consistently advocated is Mathematics &
Science Partnerships. Under this program, grants are first made to
states, which, in turn, make grants to partnerships that must include a
state agency; an engineering, math or science department of a college
or university; and a high-need school district. Grantees use these
funds to establish rigorous math and science programs; recruit math,
science and engineering majors into teaching; and improve the teaching
skills of math and science teachers. Without significant investment in
math and science education, we will not be competitive with countries
like China who are graduating nine times the number of engineering
students that we are producing in America. Unfortunately, this
conference report appropriates $6 million less than the House passed
earlier this year and $85 million (32 percent) less than the
President's request.
Also important for long term economic competitiveness is the
Educational Technology State Grants Program. Like math and science
partnerships this program received $25 million less than the House
bill, $150 million (35 percent) less than the Senate bill, and $221
million (45 percent) less than the current appropriation. This is
exactly the wrong direction to be taking the country. We can not stay
globally competitive if we are not teaching our children the skills and
knowledge they will need to be the innovators of tomorrow.
Education for the disabled is also slashed. This bill cuts the
Federal share of special education costs from 18.6 percent in FY 2005
to 18.0 percent by providing the smallest increase for the Individuals
with Disabilities Education Act in a decade. The bill provides $4
billion less than Republicans promised for IDEA.
Similarly, the bill cuts $17 million for vocational education. This
cut will force local school boards to raise funds or cut other services
to make up the shortfall. This will not prepare our children with the
high tech vocational education they will need to obtain a job that pays
well but for which a college degree is not necessary.
With 7.4 million Americans out of work it is unclear to me why
Republicans are cutting the Community College Initiative. This
initiative would train workers for high skill, high paying jobs, yet it
is being reduced by $125 million, denying this assistance to 100,000
Americans of a continued education to help them get a new job. This
bill also cuts job search assistance through the Employment Service by
$89 million (11 percent) and unemployment insurance by $245 million (7
percent), eliminating help for 1.9 million people.
This bill is no better for those attending college full-time. Despite
the fact that higher education is increasingly expensive, the majority
has decided not to increase the maximum Pell grant. Rather it is being
frozen for the fourth straight year, and no new funding is provided for
any other student financial aid and support programs, even though
college costs have increased by $3,095 (34 percent) since 2001.
College students are not the only ones left out in the cold by this
bill. Families and seniors who cannot afford to pay the expected 46
percent increase for natural gas and 28 percent for home heating oil
this winter will have to get by without energy assistance from the
federal government. For some reason Republicans have refused to
increase funding for the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program
(LIHEAP), which helps keep the heat on for people who cannot otherwise
heat their homes in winter.
As this bill hurts families' ability to pay for college and heat
their homes, it also deals a blow to their ability to receive
healthcare. Nearly 46 million Americans are without health insurance,
yet Republicans provide virtually no funding for new Community Health
Centers beyond the amount approved last year. They also eliminate the
Healthy Communities Access Program altogether along with the state
planning grants to improve health care coverage. Where do the
Republicans find the moral justification to cut these programs while
planning to pass another $70 billion tax cut for the top 1%?
The bill does little to prepare for long-term healthcare concerns or
invest in medical research. The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) is
cut $249 million (3.9 percent). The National Institutes of Health (NIH)
receives a (0.7 percent) increase--its smallest increase in 36 years,
and not enough to keep the number of research grants from declining for
the second year in a row. How are we supposed to remain the world
leader in health research with funding numbers like this?
I believe American leadership is fueled by national investments in an
educated and skilled workforce, groundbreaking federal research, and a
steadfast commitment to being the most competitive and innovative
Nation in the world. We must make the decision now to ensure that
America remains the world leader in innovation and competitiveness.
This bill takes us in the opposite direction.
America's global leadership in technological advancement and
innovation is being seriously challenged by other countries. The
warning

[[Page H10528]]

signs could not be clearer. The rest of the world is increasing its
capacity, its investments, and its will to catch up with us. We cannot
ignore this challenge. Americans again must innovate in order to create
new thriving industries that will produce millions of good jobs here at
home and a better future for our children. Today this bill moves us
further away from achieving this goal.
Mr. MENENDEZ. Mr. Speaker, today we have some very clear choices. It
is not every day that we face such black and white options--often the
issues we debate on this floor have many shades of gray.
But today, there is no confusion, there is no muddying of the issues,
and there is no way to mask the harm this bill would do: cut education
spending for the first time in a decade, slash funding for worker and
youth training, and provide no increase for home heating assistance for
low-income families.
Today, we have a choice. We can pass a bill that will be detrimental
to our children's future; that will hurt students in need of financial
assistance to go to college; that will not help families struggling to
pay their heating bills; and that will severely hinder research and
preventive health efforts. Or we can reject this bill and demand
something better for American families.
We have heard that this bill is the result of priorities. Well, this
is one point where I agree with my Republican colleagues. This bill is
the result of priorities. The wrong priorities, Mr. Speaker.
When the Republican leadership of this Congress is content to spend
more on tax cuts than on the entire Department of Education or Labor;
When we can spend $70 billion in tax cuts but cannot provide children
the access to technology or advanced science and math instruction they
need to compete in today's world;
When we can give millionaires a break but cannot provide students
even a meager increase in Pell Grants to help them pay for the rising
cost of college;
When we can shell out billions in tax breaks to oil companies but
cannot help those in need prepare for what is expected to be one of the
costliest winters yet; it is clear that Republicans have the wrong
priorities in mind.
Mr. Speaker, our Nation's children should not have their education
shortchanged because the administration had to scrounge around for a
few million here and there to pay for tax cuts that benefit a small
minority in this country.
At a time when people are losing faith in their government and their
leaders, when they are asking for honesty and looking for answers to
their everyday needs, this bill provides no answers. This bill tells
them to go it alone. Mr. Speaker, America deserves better than this.
Vote no on this conference report that shortchanges and unfairly
punishes everyday Americans.
Mr. LANGEVIN. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in opposition to the Labor,
Health & Human Services and Education Appropriations bill before us.
This bill quite simply fails to address the priorities of the American
people.
My concerns about specific cuts in this bill are many. It cuts
funding for No Child Left Behind, an already vastly underfunded
mandate; it fails to offer even the small increase in the maximum Pell
Grant that was established in the House bill; and it sets a funding
level for the National Institutes of Health that would decrease the
number of federal research grants for the second year in a row. The
consequences of this bill are far-reaching. Major cutbacks in the areas
of education and health care will have a tremendous economic impact on
our Nation.
I would like to speak briefly about what my constituents have told me
is important to them. Rhode Islanders, like all Americans, are
concerned about health care. I have heard from many of them in recent
weeks, in opposition to the devastating cuts to the Title VII health
professions programs. While the Administration has made it clear that
Community Health Centers are a priority to them, this bill nearly
eliminates the very programs that health centers rely on to recruit
nurses to work in areas that are facing acute professional shortages
and train medical students to work with underserved populations. With
45 million uninsured Americans, we cannot afford to eliminate programs
targeted at meeting the needs of the uninsured or remove the support
systems that exist for those doctors and nurses who are serving in
areas where there is a shortage of professional health services.
Rhode Islanders are also concerned about unemployment. With 7.4
million unemployed Americans, this conference agreement cuts critical
services for the unemployed, including job training grants and
unemployment insurance offices. Adult Training Grants, which provide
training and related education and employment services to economically
disadvantaged adults, are cut by $31 million--providing the lowest
level of funding for these training grants in a decade. Youth training
grants, which offer states the opportunity to develop on-the-job
training and provide exposure to a wide variety of promising career
paths for disadvantaged youth are cut by $36 million, offering 12,000
less at-risk youth the opportunity to earn a high school diploma and
find meaningful employment.
When Congress passed H. Con. Res. 95, the Budget Conference Report,
the Republican leadership set the stage for these devastating cuts.
This legislation makes it clear that tax cuts for the wealthy will
continue to be paid for by slashing programs that Rhode Islanders
depend on.
I urge my colleagues to reject H.R. 3010.
Mr. ETHERIDGE. Mr. Speaker, I rise in opposition to H.R. 3010, the
Fiscal Year 2006 Appropriations Act for the Departments of Labor,
Health and Human Services and Education. H.R. 3010 severely cuts
education, health care, and human services that are crucial to North
Carolina and to the country.
As the only former state schools chief serving in Congress, I know
firsthand the devastating effects that these education cuts will have.
At a time when we are asking our schools to do more than ever, H.R.
3010 cuts No Child Left Behind funding by $784 million below last
year's level and makes it impossible for our schools to meet high
standards of accountability. These cuts will destroy the morale of our
teachers, parents and students.
America's working families are struggling to pay record costs for
college costs for college tuition and expenses. Last November,
President Bush made a campaign promise to increase funding for Pell
Grants and invest in higher education. Unfortunately, this bill freezes
Pell Grants and other student financial aid programs for the fourth
year in a row, even though college costs have increased by 34 percent
since 2001. America needs a highly trained and educated workforce to
compete in the global marketplace of the 21st Century, but H.R. 3010
slashes funding for education at all levels and strains school budgets.
The failure of H.R. 3010 to represent the values of the American
people extends beyond the walls of the classroom. H.R. 3010 slashes
funding for community health centers that assist the almost 46 million
uninsured Americans, and underfunds the Centers for Disease Control as
we face the possibility of a flu pandemic. And as winter approaches
with expected record prices to heat their homes, H.R. 3010 fails to
increase funding for LIHEAP home heating assistance, which helps keep
the heat on for low-income seniors and children.
Mr. Speaker, H.R. 3010 fails to represent the priorities of the
American people. I urge my colleagues to vote against this bad bill and
restore funding for essential services for our families.
Ms. ROYBAL-ALLARD. Mr. Speaker, I rise in opposition to the
Conference Report on H.R. 3010. The fiscal year 2006 Labor-HHS-
Education Appropriations report before the House today shortchanges
America's children, its families, its workers and its most vulnerable
citizens.
The Labor-HHS-Education bill embodies our priorities and values as
Americans. In it, Congress provides the yearly resources needed to keep
our families healthy, our children educated, our workers employed, and
our most vulnerable citizens a productive part of our society. This
bill is arguably one of the most important pieces of legislation
Congress addresses each year.
Chairman Regula understands this responsibility. He understands that
this is ``the people's bill'', and he has worked hard to distribute the
limited resources he was given in a fair and conscientious way. So my
``no'' vote today should in no way be seen as a lack of respect or
appreciation for the efforts of Ralph Regula, the chairman of the Labor
HHS Appropriations Subcommittee.
Chairman Regula and the staff of the subcommittee have worked within
this tight budget allocation to address the needs and priorities of our
states and communities as best they could under the circumstances. For
example, the conference report includes increases in two critical areas
to help infants and their families. The first is the Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention's folic acid national education program.
This program has been instrumental in the prevention of birth defects
by encouraging women of child-bearing age to take the recommended
amount of folic acid daily, thereby decreasing the rate of neural tube
defects. The second increase is for the Health Resources and Services
Administration's newborn screening program for early identification of
infants affected by certain genetic, metabolic, hormonal and or
functional conditions for which there are effective treatment or
intervention. In addition, for the first time, this bill also includes
programmatic funding for the national media campaign to fight underage
drinking, which is being conducted by the Ad Council. I thank the
committee for helping our country make progress in these critical
public health areas. The presence of these and a small number of other

[[Page H10529]]

positive programmatic funding levels, however, is simply not enough to
warrant approving this conference report.

Mr. Speaker, the constraints placed on this bill by the budget
priorities and decisions of the Republican leadership are not worthy of
this House and the values of the American people. I voted against the
House bill when it came to the floor in June precisely because it fell
so short of meeting the needs of America's children, families and the
most vulnerable among us. I had hoped that the bill would be improved
in the conference. It is unfortunate, however, that in this conference
agreement, the way they chose to improve overall programmatic funding
from the original House Bill levels was to take resources away from
other priorities and community needs.
This report and its funding decisions do not stand in isolation. They
reflect the misguided priorities of a Republican leadership that has
continually put the interests of the wealthy and the privileged before
the needs and priorities of working and middle-class Americans. This
Labor-HHS-Education conference report is a direct result of an economic
agenda of tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans, and it weakens
America's future by under-funding key education, health and human
services programs. If approved, this bill will impose cuts to essential
programs important to Americans in at least three major areas.
First, this conference agreement significantly shortchanges our
nation's workers. The bill cuts labor programs $430 million below the
FY 2005 levels. Training and employment services for the 7.4 million
Americans who are unemployed are funded well below the FY05 levels.
This includes a $31 million cut to Adult Training Grants, a $36 million
cut to Youth Training Grants; and a $141 million cut to Unemployment
Insurance Offices. The U.S. Employment Service Office, which matches
job seekers with job openings, is slashed by 10.5 percent, and the
report freezes funding for dislocated and older workers. In addition,
the bill slices International Labor Affairs, the program that helps
eradicate abusive child labor practices and protect worker rights. by
21 percent.
Secondly, this report is simply a reaffirmation of the
Administration's hollow commitment to education, slashing the No Child
Left Behind funds by $784 million below the FY 2005 level. It cuts the
Education Technology Block Grant program that provides access to
technology in schools by a shocking 45 percent from last year's level.
It reduces the Even Start program supporting services for low literate
and low-income families by 56 percent. And as a final point, it
shortchanges our children with disabilities by funding IDEA at $4
billion below the Republican promise to put special education on a fast
track to full funding.
Finally, the report is particularly devastating to the health of
Americans. Some of its most significant cuts are directed towards the
critical programs that provide a health care safety net for the
uninsured. The conference agreement provides $34 million less than the
House passed bill and $89 million less than the Senate bill for grants
to Health Centers for services to the uninsured. The Maternal and Child
Health Block Grant is cut by 3 percent, reducing its true per capita
purchasing power by almost 20 percent below the FY 2002 level. The
conference agreement terminates the Healthy Communities Access Program
that makes grants to local hospitals, health centers and providers so
that they can provide better integrated systems of care for the
underinsured and uninsured. Lastly, as if cutting services wasn't
enough, the conference agreement virtually decimates the Title VII
Health Professions Training programs, cutting overall funding from $300
million in FY 2005 to $94 million in FY 2006.
Mr. Speaker, these drastic reductions to critical programs are not
necessary. Ranking Member David Obey has consistently laid out a
common-sense approach to this problem. By simply reducing the tax break
for those with incomes greater than $1 million, we could add funding
for No Child Left Behind programs, maintain college affordability by
increasing the money for Pell grants, shore up our health safety net
programs, and rebuild our public health system to respond to pandemics
and possible terrorist attacks. But these fiscally responsible efforts
by Mr. Obey and the Democrats have been defeated by the Republican
majority at every turn. The result is this grossly underfunded bill
which we are considering today.
In the end, this Congress will be judged by how well we have served
the needs of all our citizens and communities. As a result, this Labor-
HHS-Education Bill will not reflect kindly on us. We can and must do
better for the future of our families, our children, our workers and
our most vulnerable citizens.
The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Terry). Without objection, the previous
question is ordered on the conference report.
There was no objection.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the conference report.
Pursuant to clause 10 of rule XX, the yeas and nays are ordered.
Pursuant to clause 8 of rule XX, this 15-minute vote on adopting the
conference report on H.R. 3010 will be followed by a 5-minute vote on
passage of House Joint Resolution 72.
The vote was taken by electronic device, and there were--yeas 209,
nays 224, not voting 1, as follows:

[Roll No. 598]

YEAS--209

Aderholt
Akin
Alexander
Bachus
Baker
Barrett (SC)
Bartlett (MD)
Barton (TX)
Bass
Beauprez
Biggert
Bilirakis
Bishop (UT)
Blackburn
Blunt
Boehlert
Boehner
Bonilla
Bonner
Bono
Boozman
Boustany
Bradley (NH)
Brady (TX)
Brown (SC)
Brown-Waite, Ginny
Burgess
Burton (IN)
Buyer
Calvert
Camp
Cannon
Cantor
Capito
Carter
Chabot
Chocola
Coble
Cole (OK)
Conaway
Crenshaw
Cubin
Culberson
Cunningham
Davis (KY)
Davis, Jo Ann
Davis, Tom
Deal (GA)
DeLay
Dent
Diaz-Balart, L.
Diaz-Balart, M.
Doolittle
Drake
Dreier
Duncan
Ehlers
English (PA)
Everett
Feeney
Ferguson
Flake
Foley
Forbes
Fortenberry
Fossella
Foxx
Franks (AZ)
Frelinghuysen
Gallegly
Garrett (NJ)
Gilchrest
Gillmor
Gingrey
Gohmert
Goode
Goodlatte
Granger
Graves
Green (WI)
Gutknecht
Hall
Harris
Hart
Hastert
Hastings (WA)
Hayes
Hayworth
Hefley
Hensarling
Herger
Hobson
Hoekstra
Hostettler
Hulshof
Hunter
Hyde
Inglis (SC)
Issa
Istook
Jenkins
Jindal
Johnson (IL)
Johnson, Sam
Jones (NC)
Keller
Kelly
Kennedy (MN)
King (IA)
King (NY)
Kingston
Kline
Knollenberg
Kolbe
Kuhl (NY)
LaHood
Latham
LaTourette
Lewis (CA)
Lewis (KY)
Linder
LoBiondo
Lucas
Lungren, Daniel E.
Mack
Manzullo
Marchant
McCaul (TX)
McCotter
McCrery
McHenry
McHugh
McKeon
McMorris
Mica
Miller (FL)
Miller (MI)
Miller, Gary
Musgrave
Myrick
Neugebauer
Ney
Northup
Norwood
Nussle
Osborne
Oxley
Pearce
Pence
Peterson (PA)
Petri
Pitts
Poe
Pombo
Porter
Price (GA)
Pryce (OH)
Putnam
Radanovich
Regula
Rehberg
Reichert
Reynolds
Rogers (KY)
Rogers (MI)
Rohrabacher
Ros-Lehtinen
Royce
Ryan (WI)
Ryun (KS)
Saxton
Schmidt
Schwarz (MI)
Sensenbrenner
Sessions
Shadegg
Shaw
Shays
Sherwood
Shimkus
Shuster
Simpson
Smith (NJ)
Smith (TX)
Sodrel
Souder
Sullivan
Sweeney
Tancredo
Taylor (NC)
Terry
Thornberry
Tiahrt
Tiberi
Turner
Upton
Walden (OR)
Walsh
Wamp
Weldon (FL)
Weldon (PA)
Weller
Westmoreland
Whitfield
Wicker
Wilson (SC)
Wolf
Young (AK)
Young (FL)

NAYS--224

Abercrombie
Ackerman
Allen
Andrews
Baca
Baird
Baldwin
Barrow
Bean
Becerra
Berkley
Berman
Berry
Bishop (GA)
Bishop (NY)
Blumenauer
Boren
Boucher
Boyd
Brady (PA)
Brown (OH)
Brown, Corrine
Butterfield
Capps
Capuano
Cardin
Cardoza
Carnahan
Carson
Case
Castle
Chandler
Clay
Cleaver
Clyburn
Conyers
Cooper
Costa
Costello
Cramer
Crowley
Cuellar
Cummings
Davis (AL)
Davis (CA)
Davis (FL)
Davis (IL)
Davis (TN)
DeFazio
DeGette
Delahunt
DeLauro
Dicks
Dingell
Doggett
Doyle
Edwards
Emanuel
Emerson
Engel
Eshoo
Etheridge
Evans
Farr
Fattah
Filner
Fitzpatrick (PA)
Ford
Frank (MA)
Gerlach
Gibbons
Gonzalez
Gordon
Green, Al
Green, Gene
Grijalva
Gutierrez
Harman
Hastings (FL)
Herseth
Higgins
Hinchey
Hinojosa
Holden
Holt
Honda
Hooley
Hoyer
Inslee
Israel
Jackson (IL)
Jackson-Lee (TX)
Jefferson
Johnson (CT)
Johnson, E. B.
Jones (OH)
Kanjorski
Kaptur
Kennedy (RI)
Kildee
Kilpatrick (MI)
Kind
Kirk
Kucinich
Langevin
Lantos
Larsen (WA)
Larson (CT)
Leach
Lee
Levin
Lewis (GA)
Lipinski
Lofgren, Zoe
Lowey
Lynch
Maloney
Markey
Marshall
Matheson
Matsui
McCarthy
McCollum (MN)
McDermott
McGovern
McIntyre
McKinney
McNulty
Meehan
Meek (FL)
Meeks (NY)
Melancon
Menendez
Michaud
Millender-McDonald
Miller (NC)
Miller, George
Mollohan
Moore (KS)
Moore (WI)
Moran (KS)
Moran (VA)
Murphy
Murtha
Nadler
Napolitano
Neal (MA)
Nunes
Oberstar
Obey
Olver
Ortiz
Otter
Owens
Pallone
Pascrell
Pastor
Paul
Payne
Pelosi
Peterson (MN)
Pickering
Platts
Pomeroy
Price (NC)
Rahall
Ramstad
Rangel
Renzi
Reyes
Rogers (AL)
Ross
Rothman
Roybal-Allard
Ruppersberger

[[Page H10530]]

Rush
Ryan (OH)
Sabo
Salazar
Sanchez, Linda T.
Sanchez, Loretta
Sanders
Schakowsky
Schiff
Schwartz (PA)
Scott (GA)
Scott (VA)
Serrano
Sherman
Simmons
Skelton
Slaughter
Smith (WA)
Snyder
Solis
Spratt
Stark
Stearns
Strickland
Stupak
Tanner
Tauscher
Taylor (MS)
Thomas
Thompson (CA)
Thompson (MS)
Tierney
Towns
Udall (CO)
Udall (NM)
Van Hollen
Velazquez
Visclosky
Wasserman Schultz
Waters
Watson
Watt
Waxman
Weiner
Wexler
Wilson (NM)
Woolsey
Wu
Wynn

NOT VOTING--1

Boswell

Parliamentary Inquiry

Ms. PELOSI (during the vote). Mr. Speaker, I have a parliamentary
inquiry. Has it now been 30 minutes for a 15-minute vote?
The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Terry). Clause 2(a) of rule XX
establishes 15 minutes as a minimum time. The rule does not state a
maximum amount of time.
Ms. PELOSI. Mr. Speaker, how much longer will it take for the
Republican leadership to pass this terrible attack on America's
children?
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The gentlewoman does not state a
parliamentary inquiry.
Ms. PELOSI. Mr. Speaker, how much longer will you hold this vote
open?
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair intends to bring the vote to a
close at such time as he believes that Members have finished voting.
Ms. PELOSI. Mr. Speaker, how many Members have not yet voted?
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair has affirmed that the rules
establish a minimum duration of the vote. The rules do not set a
maximum duration. The Chair intends to bring the vote to a close at
such time as he believes that Members have finished voting.
Ms. PELOSI. Mr. Speaker, is the vote being held open to change votes
or are there Members who have not voted?
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair will leave the vote open until he
believes Members have finished voting.
Ms. PELOSI. I hope we will not be waiting too much longer, Mr.
Speaker.

Parliamentary Inquiry

Ms. PELOSI (during the vote). Parliamentary inquiry, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, is it not a part of the rules of the House for Members
who wish to change their votes for them to come to the well to change
their votes and not keep the machines open to do that?
Mr. Speaker, is it not further part of the usual procedure of the
House for the Chair to announce the changes as they come in?
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Clerk has announced changes. The voting
stations cannot accept further changes at this point. Any further
changes must be made in the well.

{time} 1413

Messrs. RUSH, HONDA and GUTIERREZ changed their vote from ``yea'' to
``nay.''
Messrs. TOM DAVIS of Virginia, HEFLEY, GINGREY, TANCREDO, FRANKS of
Arizona, FLAKE, YOUNG of Alaska, JONES of North Carolina and Ms. HART,
Ms. GINNY BROWN-WAITE of Florida, and Mrs. CUBIN changed their vote
from ``nay'' to ``yea.''
So the conference report was not agreed to.
The result of the vote was announced as above recorded.
A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.

____________________