Joel Hefley

I rise to support H.R. 1588, the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2004. We are a Nation engaged in an ongoing global war on terrorism. American soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines are deployed all over the world in…

I rise again today to offer an amendment to cut the level of funding in this appropriations bill by 1 percent. The amount equals $171 million. This is the fourth time that I have offered such an amendment in recent times. I understand the…

my amendment is intended to cut $600,000 out of the IMET account to prevent Indonesia from receiving IMET funding in fiscal year 2004. As many of my colleagues may remember, last week I offered an amendment to the Foreign Service…

once again I rise to offer an amendment to cut the level of funding in this appropriations bill, to cut by it approximately $272.1 million, or approximately 1 percent of the total outlays of the bill. The reason it is structured a little…

Mr. Chairman, this week, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced it was proceeding with the development of new voluntary guidelines to protect migratory birds from electrocution and collisions with power lines. This is an important…

Mr. Chairman, I will admit that I offer this amendment with a great deal of ambivalence because the gentleman from North Carolina (Mr. Taylor) takes a back seat to no one when it comes to trying to get control of the spending of our…

my amendment is intended to highlight a troubling situation in Indonesia. On August 31, 2002, the staff of the International School in West Papua, Indonesia decided to take a picnic. The teachers lived and worked in Tembagapura, a company…

a children's health agency has reportedly diverted Federal funds to a study of the sexual predilections of aging men. Now, the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development has provided more than $137,000 for a 3-year study to…

Let me just say, I am sorry about the procedure, but this bill has been sitting in these two committees for 2 years. We have a fire season coming up again, and we need to focus all the assets we can. When we have a war and when we have a…

I have an amendment in here that is trying to get rid of the bureaucratic difficulty we have of getting firefighting assets of the Air Force Reserve focused on a fire early on. The law right now, as it is being interpreted, says that you…

Boston's Big Dig and Virginia's Mixing Bowl are characterized by cost overruns and boggled timelines. The Big Dig in Boston has turned into one of our biggest boondoggles. The project which already costs more than twice as much as it did…

the Department of Energy recently hosted a flea market. They sold 23 trucks worth $448,000 for 17 cents each, a $9,000 copier for a nickel, and a drilling rig for $50,000. The sales also included motor homes, laboratory equipment, and…

I rise in support of that House Resolution 495 which calls for the expulsion of Representative James A. Traficant, Jr. [...] These counts involved findings that Mr. Traficant engaged in the following acts that did not reflect credibly on…

I think the gentleman from Maryland has a good point, this is a small amount, and it is somewhat symbolic. It is saying, when we are trying to get our budget back in balance, we need to cut wherever we can cut. But even though I would say…

Mr. Chairman, I am asking we make a 1 percent reduction in our spending for the Treasury and Postal Services appropriations. With a discretionary budget of roughly $18.5 million, a 1 percent reduction with amount to $185 million, which is…

I would just sum up with a few statements at this point. This is no rush to judgment. We have been struggling with this for some time. Most of my colleagues have not been as intensely involved with it, nor should you be, because you have…

I respect our former Presidents, and I think they have a unique role to play; and I want them to play that role, and I want us to provide for them so that they can play that role. But do we really need half a million dollars to support…

If law enforcement is the important thing now, we need to put the emphasis on law enforcement. I think the gentleman from Maryland (Mr. Hoyer) had very good figures there about the percentage we were spending before and now, the point is…

I am aware we could do a reach-back amendment and do it later. However, I would rather do it now, when it is closer to the actual subject matter, than trying to amend it into the total of the overall bill. This would relate directly to…

since 1971 taxpayers have subsidized Amtrak to the tune of $25.3 billion, yet they have not received a reliable or efficient mode of transportation in exchange for 31 years. Amtrak has not made a profit. Almost since its inception Amtrak…

I rise today to honor the peace officers from around the country, those who came to Washington last month to commemorate the deaths of over 230 peace officers last year and, particularly, to honor the memory of those 230 peace officers who…

A recent study has shown that death tax repeal would not increase the deficit. A 1999 study showed that it decreased the economic growth that would come from repeal of the death tax, and would lead to Federal revenue gains within 7 years…

I am hearing, ``I cannot find a doctor.'' I receive countless calls and letters from people in Colorado regarding Medicare physician reimbursements and how it is affecting their access to doctors. Physicians have either decided to no…

Peace officers around the country are in Washington this week to commemorate and honor the 230 officers who died last year in the line of duty. Yesterday was National Peace Officers Memorial Day, where we paid tribute to the commitment to…

It is time to take a serious look at the problems we have with Medicare. Medicare started for the right reasons; there is no question about that, and I do not think we can argue with that. We did not want the elderly going without the…