Joseph Skeen

It is true the committee views funding the National Underground Railroad Network to Freedom Act of 1998 as a priority. I pledge to work with the gentleman from Delaware as this legislation moves forward to accommodate this request if the…

We have consulted with the Forest Service and the gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Deal) is correct that the original tracts of land requested by the administration are no longer available. However, new tracts of land have become available that…

I empathize fully with the gentleman's frustration with the Endangered Species Act and critical habitat designation requirements. The gentleman is exactly right in calling for reform of the act, and I look forward to working with him and…

As a strong proponent for programs of American Indians and Alaskan Native people, I share his concerns about the condition of health care in Indian country. I want to assure the gentleman that funding for the Indian Health Service remains…

They are the real movers and shakers. We just do not let them know it too often because they get a little bit large in the head. But they are wonderful folks. I thank all the staff folks who have done so much for all of us. They make us…

The President just recently signed into law legislation that reauthorizes the issuance of wool and mohair payments. Rural America and American farmers are facing an economic crisis, and disaster assistance has been provided to almost every…

I always appreciate the gentleman's earnest efforts on behalf of his constituents. Accordingly, and with the full knowledge of our funding constraints, I will attempt to address the gentleman's concerns in the conference.

We keep them well inoculated, and they do not buy their pharmaceuticals from anyplace other than home.

I give him my assurance that as this bill moves through the legislative process, I will do all that I can to work with the other body to provide much needed funding for the growers in southwest Michigan whose crops have been devastated by…

I believe it is wise to understand the specifics of a somewhat muddled segment of the dairy production and cheese-making production. Accordingly, we have to agree to jointly direct either the GAO or the subcommittee's S&I staff to conduct…

I, too, have an interest in ultrafiltered milk. I believe it is prudent to have empirical facts in order to understand the specifics of a somewhat muddled portion of the dairy production and cheese-making process. I would offer to the…

I expect the Rural Utilities Service to make appropriated funds available in fiscal year 2000 to fully fund the Harbor Branch-FSU aquaculture distance learning project.

I share the same approach that the gentleman has because we were given the word at exactly about the same time that he had it. Thank God the word finally got here, but it certainly puts a lot of folks in a position of not knowing that it…

Mr. Chairman, we have sent this amendment in its earlier version to the USDA but received no formal comment. We have been told that the administrator of the Food Safety Inspection Service has concerns about the amendment, but we do not…

Mr. Chairman, the Committee of the Whole has had this bill under consideration for 2 days. We have consumed about 11 hours of floor time so far. We have disposed of 10 amendments by recorded votes and we have reached page 14 of a 70-page…

This amendment has a lot of value for the rural parts of the United States. We have a program in New Mexico that was patterned after the same one that the gentleman is headed for. We accept the amendment.

I will work with him to ensure that our farmers and ranchers will have the needed assistance to meet present and future environmental demands. I would also hope that OMB would reexamine the impact of their decision on reimbursement levels…

I tell the gentleman that that is correct. The subcommittee is concerned that the NRCS has undertaken and has been asked by Congress to carry out a number of functions complicating their ability to fulfill their longstanding role of…

Due to tremendous resource constraints and competing priorities, the Committee on Appropriations was forced to offset the costs for existing programs and other new initiatives by eliminating this new and vital research program.

I am here today to support passage of S. 430, a bill amending the New Mexico Statehood and Enabling Act of 1910. The entire New Mexico delegation supports this legislation as well as Gov. Gary Johnson and the State legislature.

Contracting out would be a good way, in my opinion, to try to collect on these loans. It is my understanding that the USDA has the authority now to contract out but has not yet engaged in any such contracts. And, like the gentleman from…

I am also concerned about these new conservation offices using $22 million of our taxpayers' money. I assure the gentleman that our committee will review this issue. I have no intention of spending $22 million if it is not a constructive…

Let me close and let me state the facts, the facts, once again. This bill does not force anyone to be taken off the program. I do not know where they are getting this information, but we have two statements of administration policy from…

The gentleman is correct. ARS could use existing authority and these funds to contract with universities to undertake appropriate portions of their proposal.