First let me thank my friend, the gentleman from Massachusetts [Mr. Moakley], for yielding me this time. Mr. Speaker, there are many reasons to support this rule and the conference report. It contains very important provisions increasing…

once again let me thank the gentleman from Florida [Mr. Gibbons] for his leadership on this legislation. Mr. Speaker, we are going to be able to enact this legislation. Why we are going to be able to do it, it is because it is the right…

Mr. Speaker, I support the Kennedy-Kassebaum bill, the bill from conference that is before us. This bill is not a panacea of health care reform, but it is a good bill, on balance, that expands access to health coverage for working…

I regret we are not afforded an opportunity for more bipartisanship in presenting campaign finance reform. But the Republican bill, to me, moves backward and should be rejected by this House. We looked at the objective of campaign finance…

I am concerned that this rule does not give us the opportunity to have a free and open debate in this House. The Republicans told us that we were going to have open debates on the floor, but this rule does not permit it. There is a…

Mr. Chairman, I am concerned that the committee has cut a $2.5 million line item in the Park Service's construction budget for the completion of a project that is now underway at Fort McHenry. Last year, based upon a high priority request…

let me point out that the statement of the last speaker is just wrong. This is not a bipartisan proposal that is being brought up on Medicaid and welfare. The Democratic Governors have pointed out, although they worked very hard with…

Mr. Speaker, I support this motion, but let me just give one reason, one part of the motion that deals with Medicare that I think is particularly important. The House budget resolution takes away the protection that our seniors have today…

My constituents understand this is election year politics and it is very expensive. Let me, if I might, quote from a letter I received from Henry Rosenberg, who happens to be the chairman and CEO of Crown Central Petroleum Corp., a…

I rise in support of the $5,000 adoption credit. The legislation provides that qualified adoption expenses are reasonable and necessary adoption fees, court costs, attorneys fees, and other expenses that are directly related to the legal…

Mr. Chairman, this amendment deals with the process that should be used in settling lawsuits that involve local housing authorities and HUD. If I might just refer briefly to the recent settlement of the Baltimore litigation, initially the…

Mr. Speaker, as we have already heard, the torch of leadership in the Seventh Congressional District has not passed very often in the last quarter of a century. Elijah is now the fourth person to hold that seat, with Parren Mitchell, who…

This bill moves in exactly the opposite direction. By preempting our States in health insurance, which has been a traditional role for State governments to regulate, this bill moves in the wrong direction. It preempts our States without…

Mr. Speaker, this is a bad rule. I thought we were going to get a rule and a bill before us that will let us deal with health insurance portability and preexisting conditions, that will let us deal with the problems that our constituents…

I am so disappointed that we have this rule on the floor and we are voting on the issue without having public hearings. We are not experts in law enforcement. The experts in law enforcement should have had an opportunity to come before…

again we are presented with a missed opportunity. H.R. 2703, as it was presented for a final passage vote, contains virtually no provisions necessary to aid law enforcement in stopping terrorist attacks which is the stated purpose of the…

Mr. Speaker, this process is outrageous. None of us wants to default on the obligations of this country. But we are now 6 months into the new year, and we still do not have a clean debt extension brought to the floor to get us through this…

the 104th Congress has made getting the Government off people's back and out of business' way a high priority. Given that goal, support for the Miller-Schumer amendment is the only possible decision for the House this evening. I represent…

I take this time to join, I know, all the Members of this House to acknowledge that in the next few days this House will be losing one of its most distinguished Members, a person who has contributed much to this Nation, who will be…

I have the opportunity to travel back to my district every day. I live close enough to home to be able to do that, and I have the chance to talk to my constituents every day and learn firsthand of the hardships that are being caused…

Mr. Chairman, by maintaining the status quo and not lifting the arms embargo, we are taking sides. We are taking the wrong side, on the side of the aggressor. The Serbs are clearly the aggressors in Bosnia. We have had hearings before the…

Mr. Chairman, I would ask if my colleague, Wayne Gilchrest, and I might engage with you in a colloquy on the future of beneficial use projects for the disposal of dredge spoils. We are particularly interested in the Poplar Island project…

I support Medicare select and will vote for the conference report to extend this program to all 50 States. If it is properly structured, it can provide more competition, choice and cost savings. However I must tell my colleagues I am…

It is interesting to point out as we are debating the issue here, the Prime Minister of Bosnia is testifying before the Helsinki Commission as to the necessity to remove the arms embargo now. By enforcing the arms embargo, we are violating…

The nutrients are acting as a suffocation to aquatic life. Non-point pollution is the cause. Education is important. The substitute moves us in that direction to control the issues. The underlying bill would prevent the actions.