I rise in support of H.R. 1320, and I would like to thank Chairman Upton, Ranking Member Markey, Chairman Tauzin, and Ranking Member Dingell, the dean of the House, for the opportunity to work with them on this beneficial legislation, of…

I rise today opposing H.R. 760 and supporting the substitute. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to express my opposition to H.R. 760, the Partial Birth Abortion Ban of 2003. This is always an ugly and difficult debate. I am not comfortable with…

There is no more powerful or honorable way to serve our country than in our Armed Forces. Our military men and women are willing to put their lives on the line to defend freedom and democracy. This type of service is remarkable…

I rise in support of and cosponsor this resolution which proposes an amendment to the Constitution allowing Congress to ban the desecration of our an American flag. You can speak your mind, but do not burn our flag. I am a strong supporter…

I rise in support of my Texas colleague's resolution expressing profound sorrow on the occasion of the death of State Representative Irma Rangel. On March 18, 2003, the Nation lost a leader, Texas lost a hero, and I lost a friend. Irma was…

Texans woke up to stories like this one in today's Houston Chronicle that reports on something that is just ``unbelievable.'' On Wednesday, May 14, one day before the Texas legislative Democrats started returning to Austin, the Texas…

I am offering an amendment not only on my behalf but also the gentleman from Colorado (Mr. Udall) and the gentleman from Louisiana (Mr. Vitter), from what I understand, to require the Secretary of Transportation to report to Congress, on…

earlier this week, 53 Texas Democratic legislators exhibited real courage when they refused to participate in an unprecedented redistricting power grab. This is a Texas kind of courage like General Sam Houston, who marshaled his resources…

I guess to start with this is the first time in 50 years that we know of, in at least 50 years, that there has been a reopening of redistricting based simply on partisan purposes after the census has come out. Typically, in my experience…

I rise in support of the text any California amendment, but opposing the bill. For more than a quarter of a century, the Individuals With Disabilities Education Act, IDEA, has helped countless disabled youth to complete their education and…

Mr. Chairman, we come from a big State that wants big trucks and big cars, and my concern about the Markey amendment, not that we would not like to have more fuel efficiency, but it actually treats our trucks even harsher than what the…

it is frustrating, because a lot of us have heard from our public employees across the country and in our districts. They are frustrated when they find out they get penalized, even though they did pay into Social Security. Or in the case…

I think the debate has been good because it has talked about what the concern is, that we really need to deal with government pension offset. I know there has been legislation introduced now for a number of years and that there is a…

One thing I do agree with the chairman of the Subcommittee on Social Security about is that we should reform the government pension offset. Instead of talking about technicalities or ways that people have figured a way around it, we ought…

I know a lot of Members thought that last battle was just because of Texas teachers, firefighters, or police officers; and it is, but simply because Texas has found a way to deal with the government pension offset. Another State, Georgia…

The reason I am offering this amendment is because the underlying bill provides for this section 418. There are a lot of good provisions in the underlying bill, and people can vote for my amendment and still vote for the bill. There are…

the Budget Resolution approved last month by this body contains cuts to domestic programs that millions of Americans depend on, day in and day out. The victims of these funding cuts include Medicaid, children's health care, student loan…

let me follow up on what the gentleman from Mississippi (Mr. Wicker) stated. I was here in 1993, and I voted for that. It was the hardest vote I ever made, but it worked. And it was not because of the Republican majorities in 1995. It was…

I wanted to talk about a situation that is happening in east and northeast Harris County. Mr. Speaker, we have a group that is talking about communities rallying for our troops. Now, our troops are in Iraq and in Afghanistan. We have two…

This is an issue so important to some of us who represent districts in Texas and Georgia, and it is important nationwide because there has been legislation in the last 4 years that had a majority of the U.S. House of Representatives as…

I rise today to talk with my colleagues on a very controversial provision within the Social Security Protection Act which the House will be considering on the floor tomorrow. This legislation includes a number of important provisions to…

Mr. Chairman, there are few decisions more difficult than the one we are making today. If it were simply a debate about human cloning, I doubt that we would have one vote for it. I think the vote would be 435 to zero. I think we are all…

I was home most of last week and talked with my constituents about the President's proposed tax cut. One of the things that I think bothers a lot of folks is if we eliminate the so-called double taxation... it is just patently wrong for a…

From the pioneering Mercury missions, to the Apollo voyages to the moon, to the construction of the revolutionary International Space Station, America's astronauts have boldly gone where no man has gone before. Our scientific…

I rise in support of S. 23, legislation to extend Temporary Unemployment Benefits. Millions of American workers are in trouble today, including many of my constituents, and it is high time we did something about it. Back in March 2002…