we began this session of Congress in January with much hope of improving our Social Security system and strengthening it. Both Democrats and Republicans talked about making that our top priority. Well, Madam Speaker, we are now near the…

my constituents are perplexed. At the beginning of this session both Democrats and Republicans talked about how important it was to protect Social Security. Now we have the last appropriation bill being considered today and the Republican…

Mr. Speaker, this resolution certainly is a feel-good resolution expressing the desire of the House of Representatives not to spend any of the budget surplus created by Social Security receipts and to continue to retire debt held by the…

first, let me correct the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Weller) in that we do not have a balanced budget. We do not have a balanced budget today unless they count the surplus for Social Security generated income, and none of us want to do…

I join with the other Members who have been on the floor today to talk about the problems we are confronting in steel. I recently had a chance to visit Bethlehem Steel's Sparrows Point division. I had a chance to meet with many of the…

I strongly support the war powers resolution. It provides for congressional action in committing and maintaining our men and women in harm's way. I oppose this rule because it compromises the ability of Congress to exercise its…

as a representative of the people of the Third Congressional District of Maryland, I rise today to speak in honor of Detective John M. Gibson and Officer J.J. Chestnut of the Capitol Hill Police. These last few days here on Capitol Hill…

Mr. Speaker, I would like to include in the Record a document that has been received from the Joint Committee on Taxation that shows that striking the medical savings account provision will save $4.1 billion, the self-employed health…

Mr. Speaker, we have a clear choice. If you want to provide protection for your constituents for full access to emergency care with symptoms with severe pain; if you want to provide your constituents with a choice of doctors within their…

I appreciate that. Just to respond, on a military construction rule, I did not think it was necessary for me to go to the Committee on Rules to talk about budget allocations. I would have thought that the Committee on Rules would be…

For the rule that my colleagues brought out that they brag is an open rule that deals with the budget allocations for this country, if it is adopted, I am not going to be able to offer any amendments to adjust those budget allocations…

I have found some decisions made by our Court that leaves an awful lot to be desired, and it could very well deal with a minor provision here affecting it that would throw out the entire bill the way this amendment is drafted.

Reclaiming my time, just the reverse. Almost every bill that we passed through this Chamber we put a severability clause intentionally in because we know that we can never anticipate what a court will do. We are the legislative body…

Reclaiming my time, we need to make progress wherever we can make progress, and if we can get through this Chamber and the other Chamber, signed by the President and through the courts, we need to take whatever progress we can, and…

every time there is a new scandal that involves campaign finance, whether it be a Democrat or Republican, we all lose. This institution is damaged and democracy is diminished. Now is the time for all of us to act and enact meaningful…

I have said before that whenever an intelligence authorization or appropriations is before us, the proponents are at a disadvantage because people can attack the intelligence community. A lot of this is confidential. They do not have the…

Mr. Speaker, a national dialogue on Social Security is definitely in the best interest of the people of this country. I congratulate President Clinton for his leadership in bringing this issue to the forefront of the American people. It is…

This matter was brought to my attention by a constituent who was trying to collect child support from a foreign national. The foreign national came to our country regularly as a businessperson making considerable money off of his business…

First, it is undisputed that this sense of Congress resolution has no legal effect. In fact if it had legal effect, the plaintiffs in the lawsuit would not be able to recover attorneys' fees, which is just the opposite of what the sponsors…

that is the answer I thought I would receive. The gentleman from Arizona (Mr. Hayworth) was talking about what he was able to bring forward. I thought you could at least give us some assurances that we will be able to take up bills that…

this amendment is very clear. It deals with the same action that the underlining resolution deals with, and that is the action of the health care task force that the President constituted. This amendment would make it clear in the sense of…

Mr. Chairman, this resolution deals with the President's Task Force on National Health Care Reform. That task force was concerned about quality health care for the people of this country. It dealt with many subjects, including how to…

let me thank my friend, the gentleman from Minnesota [Mr. Oberstar], for yielding me this time, and really congratulate the gentleman from Pennsylvania [Mr. Shuster] and the ranking member for bringing this legislation forward. As the…

Mr. Speaker, I would urge my colleagues to vote against this suspension of the rules. H.R. 2644, the U.S.-Caribbean Trade Act, is meant to provide parity with the nations in the Caribbean with Mexico as it relates to NAFTA. First, it is…

Mr. Speaker, there are many reasons to be opposed to the legislation before us. It will benefit just a few people, those who have wealth. It has very limited benefits. It diverts funds that otherwise could be available to improve education…