I strongly support the Hooley motion to instruct farm bill conferees to retain language passed in the Senate farm bill that requires country of origin labeling information on meat, fish, fruits, and vegetables. Country of origin labeling…

The security of retirement programs of America's workers is about as important a thing as I think we are going to tackle. It has been my pleasure to work with people on both sides of the aisle on this issue for many years. I want to…

the reality behind this budget is that we are going to be spending Social Security cash on functions other than Social Security for the next decade. The second reality is that most of that reflects budget choices that have nothing to do…

When we passed the tax bill in May, we all agreed that Social Security and Medicare funds would be held inviolate. In fact, that was the terms of the consideration of the tax bill as put forward by the President. He said, to make sure the…

I thank my colleague, reclaiming my time, Mr. Speaker, for his very thoughtful comments. The newspapers today carried a discussion about how the stimulus package will be put together. We also have to acknowledge this stimulus package is…

I have a chart which illustrates the point the gentleman was making about how did we get in this hole? We have to be candid about assessing what happened because that is how we are going to learn how to go forward. This part, looking out…

I thank my colleague, and as a member of the Committee on the Budget, he has a very important role because we have got to get this debt under control. I appreciate his very intelligent, committed approach to this central question of the…

I had hoped the motion to recommit would offer us the opportunity to fix this bill. I believe the bill is flawed, and I will be voting against it. Unfortunately, minority leadership staff has fouled up, in my opinion, the motion to…

Mr. Speaker, defined contribution plans which place the burden of investment decisions on workers will be the primary source of retirement income for an increasing number of workers. Unfortunately, these workers have little access to…

Mr. Speaker, I think the biggest problem today for plan participants of 401(k)s is that they have been given responsibility for the investment of their retirement funds without being given access to information to help them make informed…

I strongly favor the underlying bill; but as I mentioned in my opening comments in general debate, the underlying bill is not perfect. I believe one of the more visible imperfections is its failure to address payment limits. I think, as an…

Back home we say you can take a pig, put lipstick on it, smell it and call it Monique, but it is still a pig. AHPs, association health plans, contained in this bill are just another iteration of what has been tried in the past and failed…

Mr. Chairman, I rise, along with the gentleman from Wisconsin (Mr. Green), my Republican friend and colleague, to express at this point in the debate on this bill our bipartisan appreciation for the leadership of the gentleman from Arizona…

it is another tough year for the farmers of this country. Commodity prices once again are below the cost of producing the crop. Imagine the frustration of investing one's heart and soul and extending virtually everything they own to grow a…

Mr. Speaker, we are going to leave here and go home and participate in Memorial Day celebrations all across the country honoring those who have made our country free, who have stood down the challenge of fascism in World War II, stood down…

I believe there are three questions we can appropriately raise about the tax relief proposed in this act. Is it fair? Is it timely? Does it allow for other priorities? First, is it fair? In the Senate version, the top 1 percent of wage…

I rise in support of the Hope for Children Act. As a member of this chamber and as the father of two adopted children, I want to thank Reps. DeMint, Oberstar, Pryce, King and Bachus and the entire Congressional Coalition on Adoption for…

Mr. Speaker, we are debating this motion before us to try and fix the budget filing foul-up of the majority from the other night. You know, it is one thing for the majority to be unfair; it is another thing for the majority to be inept…

Continuing my reservation, it is my understanding that indeed upon ascertaining that critical pages were missing from the report that was belatedly filed, an effort was made to track down the required Senators whose signatures needed to be…

I think the apology to this body ought to be for the overall process, bringing a budget of this country to the floor with no minority input, with no adequate time for minority review. What a sad thing. It would take sheer incompetence of…

Colleagues, the bill contains language on disclosure for cash balance conversions advanced by the White House in consultation with Congress last year. The motion should be defeated, because although it talks about mandating choice between…

I believe he has made a significant contribution to the debate today by offering the substitute, which I intend to support. As I said when we considered this last Congress, the problem with Portman-Cardin is not what is in the bill, the…

Mr. Speaker, this is about very real tax relief now to deal with those 2 percent of American households that may have estate tax issues to deal with versus a promise of tax relief 10 years to come. This chart shows what happens under the…

The Rangel substitute represents a better way to proceed on getting tax relief to the American people, in sharp contrast to the majority bill which we know is step one of a series of measures committing all of the general fund surplus…

I am pleased to introduce the Rail Merger Reform and Customer Protection Act.