C. W. Bill Young: “I am pleased to bring to the House the 2001 Supplemental Appropriations bill. While this is the first appropriations…”

“I am pleased to bring to the House the 2001 Supplemental Appropriations bill. While this is the first appropriations activity on the floor of this Congress, it is actually the last appropriations action for the last Congress because this is a supplemental dealing with fiscal year 2001 funding. The bill before us represents our best attempt to address funding shortfalls for our military, provide emergency assistance to communities impacted by natural disasters, and secure relief for consumers affected by high energy costs. We have accomplished this within the funding levels requested by the President and approved by the Congress in the budget resolution. In other words, if we were to go above the $6.5 billion provided in this bill, we would be violating budgetary constraints which would cause serious problems. And in the other body, the chairman of the Committee on Appropriations has said publicly that $6.5 billion is the maximum because if they were to go over that, they would be subject to a 60-vote point of order.”