I must reluctantly vote against the fiscal year 1997 Department of Defense Authorization Act because I am troubled by a number of aspects of the bill. First and foremost, the overall spending level is too high. While I appreciate that the…

I want to ensure that well-run housing authorities are rewarded for running fiscally sound and physically safe housing facilities. Mr. Chairman, will changes made in the funding process reflect this goal?

I believe our Government has a responsibility to ensure vulnerable populations have access to safe, affordable housing, but HUD needs serious reform. H.R. 2406, the U.S. Housing Act, reforms and streamlines HUD from the top down. It…

Almost 2 years ago this House debated and passed the semiautomatic assault weapon ban. It made eminent sense to pass that legislation then to keep these weapons of war from falling into the hands of criminals. It makes even more sense to…

reluctantly, I must vote against passage of H.R. 3019, the omnibus appropriations bill for fiscal year 1996. I support the bill's goal to provide funding for Federal agencies for the remainder of fiscal year 1996 at a level consistent with…

If you are poor, a very poor woman in the middle of a large State, let us say Oklahoma, and you have a State law which does not allow you to get an abortion, if you have gone through rape or incest, it means that individual must live with…

I have yet to find anybody who does not believe in clean drinking water. would not like to see clean water in general. Everybody wants clean air. You talk about environmentalists, but the trust of matter is about 100 percent of the United…

I rise in support of S. 1494, the Housing Program Extension Act, with the House amendments this bill will extend a number of necessary housing programs for this fiscal year. In particular, I support the inclusion of H.R. 117, the Senior…

I worry a little bit when I read in the press that some of the leadership here in both houses and even the White House are beginning to say, ``I do not think we can get to a balanced budget.'' I certainly have not given up on that. I think…

Mr. Chairman, budgeting in the U.S. Government is the most complex procedure I have ever dealt with in my life. With a family budget, we sit down and look at our checkbook. With a corporate budget, generally there is a committee that does…

The costs; I think satellites have a tremendous place in intelligence and security for this country. On the other hand we all know that the cost of satellites and the whole space costs are tremendous, and I think we have to work diligently…

I will be brief, but I could not support this colloquy more, and all Members should. Mr. Chairman, this panel has ultimately set goals for America which are extraordinary. The Governors support it. It is across all of the States. Just…

I think, first of all, it is probably not the end of the world that we are making some cuts in education. I think we can probably live with some of that. But there are areas about which I am concerned. I believe the goals panel, the…

I rise in support of the Stokes-Boehlert amendment. I went home too, and we need to understand what this bill does. Basically the bill itself cuts funding for the EPA by 34 percent. It cuts funding for enforcement by the EPA by 50 percent…

I rise in support of the Hoekstra-Castle amendment. The Coast Guard has proposed closing 23 bases and reducing 13 bases to seasonal subunit status. Many bases are outdated or inefficient. The intent of the amendment is not to oppose base…

But the bottom line was it was a deceptive approach to how that motion to recommit was handled. Maybe we have problems with motions to recommit, maybe they need to be filed sooner, maybe we need to have a longer time in order to digest…

I believe the premise of this bill is correct: The American people should be able to keep more of the money they have earned. It is just not right for the Federal Government to take an ever increasing share of the incomes of working…

It eliminates the repeal of the tax on social security benefits. It eliminates the tax coverage for long-term insurance, accelerated death benefits and long-term care benefits. It eliminates the capital gains tax reduction. It eliminates…

I would like to go back to about an hour ago on the floor of the House of Representatives when the minority leader presented a motion to recommit with respect to the tax cut package which went through. He stated specifically and had a…

the effect of this amendment, the numbers are large but the basic effect of what this amendment does is it reduces the Eisenhower Program which I will explain in a minute by $10 million, actually $10 million beyond the $90 million that is…

We attempted to find a number in which the local communities would be involved but would not be such a high hurdle that they could not do it. And after a lot of discussions with a lot of local officials, we came out with a number of 10…

The answer is it is a cash match. It is not an in-kind match in any way whatsoever.

I think the amendment process will allow that discussion to take place. I think we are going to have a good time with that and perhaps learn a lot about it. I also think that the statutory line-item veto is a good step. I believe in the…

But the bottom line is that of all the unfunded mandates that probably are a source of a problem for the governors of the various States and some local officials, Medicaid probably tops the list. As the gentlewoman has stated so clearly…

Many of us are concerned about the proposed mandate on our businesses to provide a comprehensive benefits package. Employers are being mandated to float money into the system only to create a bigger system, a system we cannot afford. Many…