Mr. Chairman, I am impressed with the sincerity, I think, that is being offered by our various points of view in different perspectives on the floor here. However, the longer I serve in Congress, this is an area where I do not just feel…

today I voted for the Appropriations Bill for the Department of the Interior and Related Agencies for the year FY 2003. It is not a perfect bill, but it includes many provisions that are important for Oregon and the rest of the country…

Mr. Chairman, Members may remember the huge controversy from last year when the Bureau of Reclamation shut off irrigation water to farmers in order to provide enough water for endangered suckerfish and threatened coho salmon. It was back…

this bill brought before us is not the way in which Congress should craft legislation. While I'm supportive of increased criminal penalties for corporate misconduct, which this bill includes, it falls far short in other areas necessary to…

it is now widely acknowledged that our Government and our intelligence agencies were not properly prepared for dealing with the events that led up to September 11th and its aftermath. We are spending enormous sums of money to convince the…

I appreciate the distinction because in the Northwest we have seen a significant increase in environmental consciousness, worked with programs like The Natural Step. We are seeing models of corporate responsibility where people are trying…

ultimately the Federal Government has an important responsibility to protect the quality of life for our citizens. My sense is that it is important for us to promote liveable communities where the Federal Government is a partner to help…

the pattern denying opportunity for full debate and reasonable alternatives continues as we deal with prescription drug benefits for our Nation's seniors. The House will not be permitted to vote on the Democratic prescription alternative…

I will save my stump speech, but I would just mention that there is one site we had a hearing on yesterday that is still, the campus of the American University, that 84 years after World War II we are still cleaning up chemical weapons. I…

the Treasury Secretary made it clear weeks ago that Congress would have to increase the federal government's debt ceiling. Since that time, many of us have been requesting an open debate on a bill to increase the debt ceiling. How can the…

Mr. Chairman, one of the areas that I am most deeply concerned about in the course of our dealing with the Department of Defense deals with the consequences of military activity over the course of the last 2 centuries. Unfortunately, we…

I too would like to continue the discussion this evening on the future of Amtrak. There is a rumor going around the Capitol that Senator Byrd has put together a rescue that ties together the supplemental, the debt ceiling vote with…

as always, the gentleman's two cents are worth a great deal to us. I thank the gentleman for putting in context, as we watch some of the most massive forest fires raging across four States now, one thinks of the consequences of continued…

I come from a background, Mr. Speaker, in a State where there are nominally partisan politics; but when I got started in the political process, the issues of protecting the environmental heritage of the State of Oregon was something that…

I, too, have been concerned that our Republican colleagues in the leadership have been pursuing an environmental agenda that I think is very much out of sync with what is practiced by most of the American public, the views and attitudes…

my recollection is that we had some of the people when we had the horrible cycle of fires that the gentleman and I are aware of in the Pacific Northwest, we heard the same drum beat; that somehow this was the problem, that we did not…

It is appalling that when the administration finally comes forward with its plan for Amtrak, it is basically to dismember the system, arguing somehow that Amtrak should be self-supporting. When this Congress and administration gave $5…

it is getting harder to vote for tax legislation, even provisions that I actually strongly support. This bill misses the mark because it eliminates provisions for small savers and it continues an incremental approach to making permanent…

as we speak this morning, the administration is distributing a statement that will cut ground out from underneath the efforts of Amtrak to deal with its $200 million shortfall. They are ignoring the wishes of over 160 Members of this House…

one of the most troubling problems for our communities facing the struggle for liability deals with our homeless population. The problem of homelessness, if not worse today, is certainly more complex. As a result of deinstitutionalization…

my goal in Congress is to assure that the Federal Government is a better partner to State and local communities, especially in developing infrastructure. Through its construction of water projects, the Army Corps of Engineers has been a…

last year the administration and Republican leadership brought forth a tax cut and budget proposal. I opposed that proposal for its unrealistic assumptions and potential for leading us down a fiscally dangerous path. A year later we are…

for the second time in this 107th Congress, Republican leadership is bringing before the House this measure to amend the Constitution to require a super-majority vote to adopt tax increases. I continue to oppose this measure, which would…

last month's enactment of the agriculture authorization bill signaled that we are at a crossroads here in America, not just as it relates to agriculture, but very interesting developments for the environment, community development, and…

I was struck; I was here earlier in the evening when the gentleman gave eloquent testimony to the need to support our rail investment. The gentleman talked about what a difference it made in east Texas, how people had moved forward, how…