John Culberson

I think we're headed in the same place, which is that you'd like to preserve the ability to hire union contractors in Ohio, New York, and New Jersey. We share that. I have no objection. Under the 10th Amendment, if that's what you guys…

Our point was that in right-to-work States where we have virtually no labor unions, we don't want contractors to be required to adopt prevailing wages or adopt union guidelines in order to bid on a contract. And in States like yours, Ohio…

Will the gentleman yield? Mr. LaTOURETTE. I am happy to yield to my friend from Texas.

I do. Mr. LaTOURETTE. He does. I know he does, and we've talked about this. And you know what? He can have that position. But what you can't do is bring an amendment to the floor that pretends to do one thing and, in fact, does another. If…

I strongly support the gentleman's amendment and thank him for bringing it to the floor tonight, and urge its adoption.

If I could point out, the gentleman from Washington is correct; on this vote, they're not required to unionize, but they're required to adopt the higher prevailing wage. They're required to adopt all the other higher, more expensive…

Yes, sir. That's correct. I'm about to run out of time. The Acting CHAIR. The time of the gentleman has expired. (By unanimous consent, Mr. Culberson was allowed to proceed for 2 additional minutes.)

Reclaiming my time, you're right. And that's the problem, my friend, Mr. Dicks, from Washington State. Truly, you're exactly right. The VA can and will require a nonunion contractor in Texas to unionize before they can even----

We will accept the gentleman's amendment. He raised an important point for the committee's consideration.

I rise to accept the gentleman's amendment. The CHAIR. The gentleman from Texas is recognized for 5 minutes.

Thank you, Chairman Mica. You've been a stalwart leader on behalf of veterans for many years here in Congress. And thank you for bringing this to our attention. The subcommittee is going to give it our full attention and make sure that…

Yes, absolutely, Chairman Mica. We're going to ensure that there are enough Federal resources to complete that veterans facility, but also to ensure that we're good stewards of the treasury and that our tax dollars are spent wisely and…

At this time I'd like to yield 2 minutes to my good friend from Kansas (Mr. Yoder).

I also want to be sure to thank my colleague from Texas (Mr. Cuellar) and say how much I've enjoyed working with him over the years in securing our border in Texas. We've got language in the bill, which Mr. Cuellar suggested, to encourage…

Yes, Mr. Cuellar. Absolutely, we're going to bore in on this. MD Anderson, of course, is one of the Nation's greatest cancer centers. We have had complaints and concerns expressed to my office about the slow pay of the Veterans'…

It's my privilege at this time to yield 5 minutes to the chairman of the full committee, the gentleman from Kentucky (Mr. Rogers).

We are indeed. We're going to finish this bill tonight, Mr. Dicks. But it's important to point out, I think, that Chairman Rogers deserves a great deal of credit. This committee has worked. We have searched every nook and cranny we can of…

What we've done, I know on this committee, is work arm-in-arm to find ways to solve the Nation's problems.

What I was remembering, my good friend, Mr. Dicks, is when we first came in the spring, I think there was an omnibus bill that had to be dealt with.

The gentleman brings to the attention of the Congress and the country an extraordinarily important issue that the committee is focused on. Post-traumatic stress disorder is so extraordinarily important and difficult to diagnosis in many…

Thank you, very much, Mr. Gohmert, my good friend from Texas. We share great passion for the 10th Amendment, for the restoration of individual liberty and putting our government back in their box; and I appreciate so much the time that…

The first coin ever minted in the Republic of Mexico contained the motto, ``Liberty in Law,'' something we understand so well in this country, that there can be no liberty without law. And fundamental to that is law enforcement, and this…

I personally question whether that is a valid federal role. I would rather do it through the tax code, and through tariffs on Chinese dumping products, and protecting American intellectual property by hammering the communist Chinese for…

We all recognize the just unacceptable devastating cuts the President's budget would make to the planetary program, essentially shutting it down.

I want to stress in as strong as possible terms our strenuous opposition and my determination to make sure that we block the move of those planes.