we have just obtained the motion in terms of trying to sort through the tax provisions, with an eye, among other things, to wondering whether or not people holding bonds of municipalities could suddenly find themselves with taxes they…

I am also very pleased to speak in favor of H.R. 2464, the Wakefield Act. I wanted to bring you just a little bit of perspective in terms of the difference this act has made in one young man's life, and I think it's reflective of a number…

Reclaiming my time, I welcome that, because when the Pension Protection Act passed in the last Congress when the minority was the majority, I did not find that willingness to work with me. The legislation, I believe, needed correcting…

As we have just made formally a matter of record, the Pension Protection Act was an imperfect piece of legislation. This technically corrects, not substantively changes, but technically corrects an imperfect bill. It should go forward. We…

Reclaiming my time, I am not putting this responsibility on the minority. What the gentleman has alleged, I am not currently informed of. I don't dispute it, but I don't know it, but I do know that others that were needed to address this…

this debate has been quite extraordinary for my friends on the other side of the aisle. They create a picture of great concern: poor, poor oil companies. Oil priced globally at over a hundred dollars a barrel. Prices at the pump…

The longer we postpone the solution to this flooding crisis, the more danger North Dakota, Canada, and surrounding areas will face. The Devils Lake outlet project needs to be in full operation as soon as possible.

I thank my friend from Iowa, the chairman of the Committee on the Budget, for joining in this spirited debate, but to any one of our colleagues watching, there is something that we know for sure and that is that bluster does not cover…

Mr. Speaker, we know that we have a very large problem facing this Congress: we cannot pass a budget. We have got a budget that has passed the House, a budget that has passed the Senate, but an absolute train wreck in conference committee…

here we are, another week, another tax debate. Another occasion in the House of Representatives where the GOP majority has offered nothing, nothing substantive about the looming deficit crisis that is racking up historic levels of debt in…

The bill before us is not the least we can do. It is well beneath the least we should do. It is saying that if, when they are serving their country on extended deployment in the National Guard, they need to go into their retirement…

The bill before us must pass. It is estimated by Watson Wyatt, the consulting firm, that 20 percent of defined benefit pension plans, one in five, have been frozen or canceled within the last 3 years alone. We are seeing a wholesale rout…

Mr. Chairman, included in this bill is a provision drawn from H.R. 3119, the ``Renewable Fuels and Transportation Infrastructure Enhancement Act of 2003.'' This is a proposal which I introduced along with my friend and colleague on the…

We have got a runaway debt. We have got a very serious financial situation facing this country. We are all familiar with the concept of credit card limits. Maybe we get pretty little limits. Maybe we get even generous limits. But somewhere…

I will be casting my vote against this bill today because of many serious flaws in this legislation, flaws that were included in the bill despite widespread, overwhelming opposition. Additionally, the bill tragically underfunds several key…

Defined benefit pension plans are those retirement savings vehicles made available to employees at the workplace that give them a monthly annuity benefit every month in retirement. It is the retirement cash flow that they cannot outlive…

We are now looking at an annual deficit in excess of $500 billion. I know the people I represent in North Dakota are really struggling with this request of the President to send $87 billion to Iraq because they know that when we are $500…

What I want to know is what the relationship of the price tag is relative to the deficit. Now, as I understand it, this $173 billion will deepen the deficit. Is that not the gentleman's understanding?

I believe the information brought forward in this debate will be of great surprise to most of the people that might happen to listen to this discussion. Certainly, the people I represent in North Dakota, I believe, are largely unaware of…

it has been 868 days since President Bush and the Republican Party embarked upon their economic plan for our country. During this time, the national debt has increased by $1,163,468,782,425.75. According to the Web site for the Bureau of…

Mr. Chairman, water is a treasured resource everywhere in this Nation. For my constituents, degraded water quality in the Sacramento- San Joaquin Delta stemming from increased salinity is a growing problem. The fiscal year 2003 omnibus…

Then I will proceed to answer. If the gentleman will check the transcript of my remarks before the Committee on Rules, I asked that the proposal I offered be considered that paid for the provision for the very meaningful estate tax relief…

I am pleased to respond to that concern by saying that negotiations at the State level are coming along very successfully, and so far 13 States have been successful at getting insurance companies to enter into an agreement to provide the…

Mr. Speaker, I am going to urge that my colleagues vote against this rule. On the one hand, they do allow a Democrat substitute that I am pleased to offer, one that would provide very meaningful estate tax relief. In fact, it would…

You took out the pay-for provisions of what we submitted to the committee. You make us impact the deficit, although it is only a fraction to which the majority proposal impacts the deficit. We know you do not care about the deficits. In…