Mr. Speaker, let me just summarize. Again, I thank the gentlewoman for taking the lead on an issue that was very controversial at one point in terms of how we structure the school system in the District. There is no question that it has…

Mr. Speaker, H.R. 4387, introduced by my colleague, the gentlewoman from the District of Columbia (Ms. Norton), waives the 35-day congressional review period on the upcoming June 27 referendum. It will allow the results of that referendum…

it is a privilege to address this first page school class of the millennium here today. And although I served 4 years, it was in the other body, so it seemed like about 10 years. And this is a much faster and brisker pace over in the House…

the Internet is the most empowering invention since the printing press. It allows individuals now when they go to buy things to have the buying power that was once reserved for retailers. Mere students at the elementary school level can…

I rise to bring to the attention of my colleagues the celebration of Food Allergy Awareness Week

the Department of Labor's opinion letter that was issued in February was really outrageous. The letter stated that the Fair Labor Standards Act did not allow the value of stock options to be excluded from the calculation of a nonexempt…

Mr. Speaker, let me first thank my colleague from Virginia for his eloquent remarks and also his help in the appropriations process and from all aspects as we worked to improve the district. The gentleman has been a true colleague in the…

we have traveled a long way with the D.C. College Access Act. From March 4 when we introduced it, to markup in our subcommittee, unanimous approval in the Committee on Government Reform chaired by the gentleman from Indiana (Mr. Burton)…

I am honored to welcome our guest chaplain and my constituent, the Reverend Dr. Luke Torian, to the House of Representatives this morning. Dr. Torian is the inspirational pastor of the First Mount Zion Baptist Church in Dumfries, Virginia…

let me start by saying I cannot think of another Member whose opinion on this I respect more than the delegate, the gentlewoman from the District of Columbia (Ms. Norton). She has worked very hard and been a great partner in helping to…

the Commerce, Justice, State Appropriations bill contains a number of provisions of importance to the people of my district. Two National Weather Service (NWS) programs in particular are of critical importance: the funding level for the…

let me just say when this came up, we sent the conferees last week, the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Lofgren) and others had said, please work with us. I know there was skepticism, but at the end of the day I think we recognized that…

Mr. Speaker, obviously if we had a different President and Vice President, we would have a stronger bill here today, but I think it shows the willingness of our side of the aisle to try to get some kind of bill and some kind of protections…

What we are trying to do is assure a fair count for groups that have traditionally been undercounted. That is why this legislation moves from six languages that are included in the Census surveys to 33 languages, including braille, so that…

Not at all. Mr. Speaker, reclaiming my time, I think what is important to note here is we are allowing local governments to come in who feel they have been undercounted, to come in with a post-Census sampling and start adding their input…

The Administration supports H.R. 858, which would extend coverage under the whistleblower protection provisions of the District of Columbia Comprehensive Merit Personnel Act of 1978 to personnel of the courts of the District of Columbia…

H.R. 858 is a straightforward, bipartisan bill. It simply levels the playing field by providing employees of the D.C. Superior Court, many of whom are my constituents, the same whistleblower protections that are enjoyed by other city…

I thank my colleague for recognizing me on this. Let me just note this ought to take care of a number of concerns that were raised in the preliminary debate on this when we talked about the crashed ValuJet and so on, but language in this…

it just seems to me that the health, the safety, the environment does not need to be jeopardized with this amendment. We can in fact protect that. We can give our regulatory agencies the ultimate judgment. But when we get into these…

as my colleagues know, I think what we do not want to do is get our small businesses in a ``gotcha'' situation where they fail to file one of the reams of technical filings and paperwork that we so often require in laws and amendments. And…

Let me say, Mr. Speaker, this is a new era in the District of Columbia; and it is my strong belief that the time has come to shift substantial authority from the Control Board back to the city's elected mayor and give the elected mayor the…

as a Virginian and the former chairman of Fairfax County, where Mount Vernon is located, I am very pleased to be able to speak in support of S. Con. Res. 83, Remembering the life of George Washington and his contributions to the Nation. I…

This bill, H.R. 1826, does amend the FEHBP to expand the power of the Office of Personnel Management to sanction fraudulent health care providers. The bill authorizes OPM to debar and fine fraudulent health providers that are participating…

Mr. Speaker, this is a great bill because it offers flexibility as a part of the benefit package to the different agencies. They can take these dollars that are appropriated, there is no new money involved, and can best decide how they can…

Mr. Chairman, DOD has competitively selected Anesthesia Information Management System, AIMCARE, that automates the collection of operating room data and clinical processes. This system offers DOD significant cost savings of over 70 percent…