H.R. 920 combines compassion with a healthy dose of common sense.

I have determined that the damage in certain areas of the State of Washington... is of sufficient severity and magnitude to warrant a major disaster declaration under the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act.

This legislation will provide critical assistance to the unemployed and their families by extending the Emergency Unemployment Compensation program.

It says I've done more about it than anybody in recent history.

We have enough of them already.

I want to go. I haven't been invited yet.

The truth is we can't achieve the savings we want simply by cutting funds.

I have asked for a list of very specific actions we can take now, agency by agency, program by program.

We'll ask the public to help us improve services and cut waste by calling an 800 number or by writing to the Vice President.

We intend for this to be a bipartisan and a citizen Government effort.

We want to make improving the way Government does business a permanent part of how Government works.

All eligible citizens deserve equal access to registration.

The American people deserve a Government that is both honest and efficient, and for too long they haven't gotten it.

We're going forward with the phase just as it's planned.

I'm pleased that it's ending.

But our position is different.

I haven't talked directly to General Powell today, but he thinks they've gone pretty well.

We have now cut from 2 months down to 1 week the amount of time it takes to process people who want to be considered to be refugees in Haiti.