I would tell him in terms of the sewer system and the infrastructure in the District of Columbia, there are tremendous needs. I understand the President will be down soon with a $13 billion request to rebuild the sewer system in Iraq with…

I think he most appropriately understands and appreciates the work that the city's leadership, the Mayor and the council and its delegate, the gentlewoman from the District of Columbia (Ms. Norton), have done to rescue the city from its…

A basic understanding of how the city government operates is that the mayor is the executive. City policy is designed by a consensus between the council and a majority and the executive through statute. There is nothing that prevents the…

Let us deal with the reality, which is the public school system is a public good. It is important to the entire community. It is not just about educating one child; it is about what we see as the need to promote values for the entire…

just a factual question, on page 9, the language at the bottom where it refers to religiously affiliated schools, is my reading of this to say that this bill would allow for religiously oriented schools to utilize these scholarships that…

Well, as I would understand the facts at the moment, that is why I am asking, there is no accrediting process for religiously- affiliated schools K to 12 in the District today, and there is none that is created by your language?

So are there certain religious affiliations that would be acceptable and others that would not?

As I understand the language, and I read it, it says that any religiously affiliated school could get dollars under this program and it can be controlled and connected to a religious organization and it can promote its religious purpose…

all of the lawsuits on this matter, or at least the vast majority, have been about the Federal prison system, in which the courts have been, I would say, very lenient in determining what is a religion, and all manner of groups with any…

Mr. Chairman, the HOPE VI program, which received a very significant allocation last year in this bill, has only a $50 million allocation. Part of the rationale for not aggressively supporting what is the most successful neighborhood…

Mr. Speaker, I have had the honor of knowing Bob Borski for many years. When I was just some 23, 24 years of age, being elected to the State House in 1982, he was exiting the same chair that I was going to sit in, because he was on his way…

I just wanted to say that on not just the congressional delegation, Jack Murtha, his colleagues from Philadelphia, Bob Brady and the sponsor of this bill, Congressman Joe Hoeffel, that there are many others in our State. With the loss…

I rise to suggest a caution flag as we rush towards this free lunch-approach to governmental fiscal policy. We cannot have a world-class military and defense, world-class health care, education, cities, and culture, and suggest that no one…

I, too, rise to comment on the life and legacy of our former colleague Lucien E. Blackwell, who served as a Congressman for the Second District, and prior to that served for two decades as a member of the city council of Philadelphia…

I was very supportive of the supplemental appropriations bill as we worked our will in committee under the quite able leadership of our chairman and ranking member. I am, however, somewhat concerned about the rule and the self-executing…

First of all, I know at least for myself I would rather be home with my wife on Valentine's Day, but we are here and in order to clean out the creek, we have to get the hogs out of the water first. What we need to focus in on here, we have…

let me say first that I want to congratulate the principal sponsors of this, the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Ney) and the gentleman from Maryland (Mr. Hoyer). Their work, along with the others on the committee, have really done a tremendous…

The issue of budget autonomy is one that I support, and I am the cosponsor of the bill, but it is also a matter of having the city be able to reach the revenues that are here. The city is prohibited from taxing sales that happen on Federal…

I am reminded of the Hippocratic oath: First, do no harm. Obviously, if we were to pass the Weldon amendment, we are preventing an opportunity for citizens in the District to have health insurance. That is not something we should do…

I thank the majority chairman of this subcommittee, the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Knollenberg), for doing a magnificent job with an extraordinary degree of sensitivity to the issues involved and the intricacies involved in the affairs…

there were some very bright young people from the district, here in Washington, who because of their excellent school work were off on a trip with their teachers who died on September 11. Along with thousands of others they were the…

I support this resolution along with my colleagues. We must act, not just speak. Action is our Nation's heavy burden tonight. Let us began first, care for the wounded, rescue any survivors, bury the dead, heal New York and begin to rebuild…

Reclaiming my time, we have a situation right now in the home city of the gentlewoman from Ohio (Ms. Kaptur), Cincinnati, where the police department has refused to police in parts of the community. We cannot sit and ignore the fact that…

I want to join the gentleman from North Carolina in again expressing concern about the possible effect of the language in the bill on the availability of supplemental funding for public housing authorities, who, due to unforeseen…

It really is a substantial effort that, even if I was not a member of this great fraternity, I would be supportive of it, because it really gets at the heart of where we need to be, and that is communicating with individual young men and…