Joseph Skeen

This is a good agreement. It provides $19.1 billion for our public lands, for Indian programs, for critical science and energy research programs, and for cultural institutions like the Smithsonian. Within that total there is $1.32 billion…

I commemorate today the anniversary of the Morris K. Udall Parkinson's Research Act, and I am pleased to be here among other champions of the cause from the Parkinson's Working Group here in the House. Mo Udall was more than a colleague…

I appreciate the position of the Member on this amendment, but I oppose this amendment. The committee-approved bill includes the President's request for the NEA and NEH. This is a fair amount of funding. This level sustains the increases…

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…

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…

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…

Mr. Speaker, I rise to bring before the House the conference report on the fiscal year 2001 appropriations bill for Agriculture, Rural Development, the Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies. This bill has two main parts. The…

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.

I will work with him to assure that the FSA provides a smooth transition to a common computing environment for Minnesota FINPACK users. FSA has provided me with a copy of the contract they are entering into with the University of Minnesota…

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…

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 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.

Reluctantly, Mr. Chairman, I rise in opposition to the amendment. Mr. Chairman, the purpose of the amendment of the gentleman is commendable. He is trying to support an Agricultural Research Service laboratory in his district, the Northern…

Mr. Speaker, I rise in enthusiastic and strong support of S. 291, the Carlsbad Irrigation Project Acquired Land Transfer Act. S. 291 was introduced by Senator Domenici and Senator Bingaman of New Mexico and is the companion bill to H.R…

I have seen what it is like for the FDA employees who work in the trenches, so to speak, doing the job that we all want them to do to ensure the safety of the food supply. They are in danger of their own situation because the place has…

Mr. Speaker, I feel somewhat like Mrs. Custer, and how she would have felt about Indian relief, after we have gone through this exercise earlier. But I am pleased to bring before the House today the conference report on H.R. 1906…

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…

I rise to lend my support to H.R. 1664, as amended by the United States Senate. I know this legislation as the Emergency Oil and Gas/Steel Loan guarantee program of 1999. This legislation is supported by the 7,000 domestic crude oil and…

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…