I rise in support of S. 2241, which extends the authorization for the expiring portions of federal child nutrition programs for an additional three months. The child nutrition programs include the National School Lunch and Breakfast…

As we have seen during the debate today, this has been a very cooperative process, very bipartisan process, both sides of the aisle coming together to do what we can do to improve the nutrition services and nutrition programs that the…

Mr. Chairman, the Community Services Block Grant program has a proud history of inclusion of faith-based organizations in the coordination of poverty reduction services, and we should continue that tradition of inclusion and reject…

Why should a faith-based organization that is providing tremendous community services give up the protections granted to them under the 1964 Civil Rights Act just because they accept Federal dollars in their mission to help low-income…

I have a quote here from Senator Ervin during that debate and he said, ``This amendment is to take the political hands of Caesar off the institutions of God where they have no place to be.'' I would suggest to both gentlemen that Senator…

Mr. Chairman, it should be clear to our colleagues today that the underlying bill, the reauthorization of the Community Services Block Grant program, has been done on a broad bipartisan basis. The only issue here of disagreement in the…

But to hold up the Community Services Block Grant program, a program that helps the community action agencies in all of our communities, helps them with their assistance to the poorest of the poor, to hold it up over this kind of a…

the significant pension underfunding problems that we face in this country have critical implications on the retirement security of American workers. Traditional defined benefit pension plans promise workers a set monthly benefit at…

I rise in support for H.R. 3232, which would extend the authorization for the expiring portions of child nutrition legislation for an additional six months. This bill, which was introduced by my colleague Mr. Castle, is also cosponsored by…

Mr. Speaker, we have a pension underfunding crisis in this country; and it has significant implications on the retirement security of the American workers. This chronic underfunding crisis we face among traditional defined benefit pension…

I thank the Members on both sides of the aisle for the good work that has been done on this bill. This year millions of Americans will visit a museum in America and millions more will visit their local library for books and other community…

let me thank the lead sponsor on this amendment, the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Tom Davis) and the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Frelinghuysen) who has worked closely with us to bring some hope to children who today do not have hope…

as we progress through the conference, I do intend to explore this issue further. Quality research relies on valid and reliable data, and I believe that we must have quality research to drive the real improvements that are necessary in…

I think there are is some misunderstanding. Title VII of the Civil Rights Act says that religious organizations can discriminate in their hiring based on religion. That is what it says. Look at Federal laws that provide grants to…

This amendment is a sad attempt to return to the days of spending billions and billions of dollars and getting nothing in return. Since 1965, the Federal Government has spent over $300 billion in K through 12 education programs, and what…

But not only did we, the Congress, support a tax cut for the American people, we also supported a $20 billion increase in discretionary spending. And the fact is, we are spending more. Our job as Members of Congress is to make decisions…

I know we do two things here: we do politics, and we do public policy. The fact is that MSHA has suspended and/or withdrawn the regulation, and the gentleman's amendment says that MSHA cannot promulgate a new regulation until October of…

the amendment before us is unnecessary and potentially harmful. Simply put, it would restrict the Mine Safety and Health Administration's ability to protect miners from coal dust exposure until October 2004. The proposed amendment is…

let me remind everyone, this is to protect the rights of workers and to clarify a labor law that has not been changed in 54 years, and under the amendment offered by my good friend from California (Mr. George Miller), remember, we would…

we have known for years that the Fair Labor Standards Act regulations governing overtime are confusing and out of date. Moreover, millions of low-wage workers who should be earning overtime pay currently are not. Now, these regulations…

Mr. Chairman, let me again congratulate my friend from Michigan. This is a bipartisan bill that has been worked on with Members on both sides of the aisle to try to address the serious needs that we have in our teacher preparation programs…

Another wonderful example of let us let the perfect become the enemy of the good. The President in his proposal, and Senator Graham when he was a former House Member, made it clear that the focus here was to look at high-poverty schools…

H.R. 2211, the Ready to Teach Act of 2003, complements the No Child Left Behind Act and will help improve the quality and accountability of our Nation's teacher preparation programs. No Child Left Behind set a lofty, but achievable, goal…

the 15 percent reduction is only the reduction in the administrative costs of running the plan. When you begin to look at what pooling and larger pools will do, it brings the costs down significantly.

Mr. Speaker, we have 41 million Americans who do not have health insurance. As I said before, Congress has been talking about this for a decade. And while the underlying bill will not solve the entire problem, it will help in addressing…