I stand corrected on that, Mr. Chairman. But I know that the gentleman from Tennessee [Mr. Wamp] and I, could reach no contemporary consensus this year on the authorization. We are dealing with last year's, last year's amendment which was…

as an American citizen, a Virginian, and a Member of Congress, I want to condemn in the strongest possible terms the epidemic of arson against churches that has taken hold across the southern States and elsewhere in our land. I am…

I, too, rise to pay tribute to the retiring pages. They are part of a proud tradition that has brought many Members back into this body either as Members or as legislative aids or to the Clerk of the House. When I was a page, 1963 to 1967…

I rise reluctantly to oppose his position on this and support this amendment. This amendment continues the current level of immigration. It allows children and the brothers and sisters of immigrants to apply for immigration. Otherwise they…

I am going to speak today on a bill that we have introduced, H.R. 1855. This is a bill that amends the District of Columbia Code, title XI of the D.C. Code, but basically what it does is it allows Dr. Elizabeth Morgan and her daughter…

Mr. Speaker, it is important for the House to know that Dr. Morgan and her daughter are, frankly, gagged right now from even communicating with Members of Congress or lawyers in the United States because a New England gag order has come as…

this does not require the President, as I understand it, to support any tax cut. He could have full funding for Medicare. He could add money to Medicare over and above what the law allows, add more money to the environment, add more money…

My friend, the gentleman from California [Mr. Beilenson], who I think is a very able man, has mentioned that this would be demeaning to the President to ask him to submit a balanced budget. I do not think it is demeaning at all. He…

I would like to ask a couple of questions. We have, in addition to the Federal employees who have been furloughed and unpaid since December 15, in my district thousands of Federal contractors, a majority of whom have been working with…

would it not seem to the gentleman reasonable that the administration, we would hope the administration would do everything possible at that point to utilize these contracts in the interest of the Government?

I was moved today to hear the comments of a young man from Baltimore at a rally outside here, a Federal employee talking about the hardships that this furlough has placed on him and his young family, and I place the following in the…

I will support this, the bill before us today. It is not everything I had hoped for, as a representative of many Federal employees who have been furloughed and not paid during this time period, but it is a step in the right direction. We…

Let me just make a couple of final points. It also does not get us to a balanced budget which is something else that I think needs to be done that we feel very strongly. The fourth thing that could happen is the President could put a…

Let me say to my friend that may be able to happen in time. We will have a discharge petition. But 30 days have to run. The problem with this recess is that you do not get the legislative days run during that time. Eventually this will…

this is disgraceful. We have Members over here saying it is Gingrich's fault, it is the President's fault. it is all of our faults, folks. We have not been able to get our act together. We could pass a continuing resolution. I favor doing…

Well, that would do it, but it does not solve some of the other problems. A continuing resolution is not a resolution. There are still a lot of issues at play in the continuing resolution that frankly ought to be worked out.

let me just share a little bit different perspective. First of all, I think to hear Members from this side of the aisle get up and blame the President for the shutdown and Members on the other side get up and blame the Republican Congress…

But the central issue here is, should the Government in its procurement operate on a ``one size fits all'' standard, or are we going to allow the buyer, are we going to allow that agent then who is trying to get the best price they can for…

My comments are simply this, and why I oppose the amendment: I understand the intentions of this and the concerns that have been raised, but I think they are bogus in this case. I think we have--what we are doing to some extent is we are…

Let me ask the gentlewoman from Kansas then are there any notice provision that she has eliminated in her amendment, and I would ask both, as I understand it, what notice provisions now will not go out to small businesses under this that…

And, as I read this, the amendment and the bill, there was some rhetoric about these decisions were made by Government bureaucrats. I guess they are talking about Government procurement officers, behind closed doors, back-door decisions…

In fact, as I understand the legislation, the gentleman has even stricter standards in terms of bid protests, in terms of what those criteria are going to be.

Now let me put sole source to one side just for one second. Can anyone bid on the procurement regard? Is there any bar to anyone bidding that is in this bill?

I want to first of all compliment the chairman, the gentleman from Pennsylvania [Mr. Clinger], and the chairman, the gentleman from South Carolina [Mr. Spence], for putting this bill together, putting a broad coalition of groups interested…

I am compelled to vote in support of the resolution disapproving the recommendations of the Defense Base Closure and Realignment Commission [BRAC]. I approve of the BRAC process, but in my district the Army has taken action under BRAC 95…