Ernest Istook: “Mr. Chairman, we are here because we need to be here, because we are trying to take care of the things that we are…”

“Mr. Chairman, we are here because we need to be here, because we are trying to take care of the things that we are responsible to take care of, not only the security of the United States of America but the welfare of its people. That is why we have this bill on the floor. Yes, we could spend all of our time talking about foreign affairs; but if we did, we would not be trying to have normalcy. And, yes, it is normal that we get on the floor of this House, we have debates, we have disagreements, and we have bills such as the annual appropriation bill for the Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services and Education. If we did not have that, then things such as the Centers for Disease Control and public health programs would not have their funding and where would the welfare of the Nation be? Right now the congressional authorizations for these measures expires unless we take action such as passing this bill. So of course we should be here. We should be talking about the issues that are timeless and timely, and this is among them.”