Ernest Istook: “Mr. Speaker, let me, as part of my response to some things that have been claimed, take issue with this idea that…”

“Mr. Speaker, let me, as part of my response to some things that have been claimed, take issue with this idea that supposedly the bill consists almost entirely of local funds. In this bill, of the total of about $5.5 billion in operating expenses in the bill, about $3 billion of it is raised locally, about $2 billion of it is different Federal grant programs that comes from the Federal Government; and then over $400 million of it is direct appropriation of Federal funds to the District of Columbia. I do not consider $2.5 billion of Federal money or $400 million of appropriated money--and of course it exceeds that $400 million--I do not consider that to be small potatoes. I consider that to be a lot of taxpayers' money. We do not have that kind of direct appropriation to my hometown. It does not go to Oklahoma City. It does not go to Sacramento. It does not go to Minneapolis or St. Paul or even Chicago. It goes to Washington, D.C., as the Nation's Capital because we have a unique constitutional perspective and mandate regarding the Nation's Capital. Otherwise, we would not have this bill, we would not have a District appropriation.”