If it becomes association, then what do we do? I just want to say that I think the gentleman makes a good point because the bottom line in all of this is there are too many unanswered questions on a process where we are blessing an outcome…

This bill has Congress blessing statehood before Puerto Rico even expresses its will. This bill isn't needed for Puerto Rico to hold a self-determination vote on what they desire of their future political plans. Puerto Rico can conduct a…

I want to say that this amendment is unnecessary, and really it masquerades a whole debate on English, and let me explain why. This amendment has essentially three components, and I will paraphrase what those components are. They talk…

I want to make one point very, very clear. And that point is that we in Congress on a bipartisan basis welcomed the citizens of Puerto Rico to communicate to us their wishes. But, Mr. Chairman, this is not the right process for that. I…

I rise today in opposition to this bill. It strongly deviates from the procedures followed by other States to seek statehood, and it leaves numerous questions about the implications of statehood unanswered in this particular case. H.R…

As today's debate begins on this very important issue, where opposition is obviously on both sides of the aisle, there are two basic points I wish to make: first, to express the fundamental unfairness of this rule for debate, as the…

Mr. Chairman, the proponents have a problem. They want statehood for Puerto Rico, but the people of Puerto Rico keep voting ``no.'' Well, what to do. Well, they replace a straightforward up-or-down vote with a very clever two-step process…

In 2008, when gas prices reached $4 a gallon, Republicans took to this House floor demanding that Congress take action. The good news for Americans is that Congress responded by lifting the ban on offshore drilling, opening up over 500…

It's past time for this Congress to stop jamming through massive expansions of the federal government and instead support commonsense reforms that will lower health care costs and increase choices for all Americans. A bipartisan coalition…

With millions of phone calls, emails and personal visits, the American people have made it clear to Congress that they want health care reform that lowers costs, not a government takeover of their health care system. I support reforms that…

the identical bills introduced by Representative Doc Hastings and Senator Maria Cantwell, beginning in the 108th Congress

Mr. Speaker, I am simply pointing this out because this is evolving into a process, and who is being left out of this process happens to be the elected Governor of the State of Hawaii. And to me that is regretful.

Let me just make reference to the 1959 vote. The vote was not whether you accept statehood--because if they had voted no, they could not have been a State--the question is whether they wanted statehood. Over 94 percent said yes, they want…

Just let me kind of summarize some of the overreaching debate that we've had here today. This issue has been around this Congress for over 10 years, and this issue has had broad support within the State of Hawaii, Mr. Speaker, for over 10…

Mr. Speaker, it pains me to rise in opposition to the valedictory measure of the gentleman from Hawaii, but there's no blinking at the fact that this bill strikes at the very foundation of a Nation that's dedicated to the concept of…

When we started the process, when we started this Congress, the original text of H.R. 2314 was something that Governor Lingle endorsed. The Senate bill, which I think was identical or very close, she also endorsed that. But now with the…

Last week Americans were encouraged when President Obama mentioned offshore drilling in his State of the Union address; yet, it took only 5 short days for the President to reveal his true intentions on offshore drilling. The President's…

I will make the point we did have a hearing on H.R. 3538, the measure sponsored by Mr. Simpson. We have not had a hearing, however, on H.R. 4474 which is before us today sponsored by Mr. Minnick. I just wanted to point that out because we…

I again urge my colleagues to vote ``no'' on this. We are simply saying that there is a procedure that this Congress set up. That procedure was a study. Taxpayer dollars funded that study in order to see if this project actually merits…

The arguments that I made on the previous bill are exactly applicable to this bill. So let me simply summarize. To summarize, I believe, and we believe on this side, that settlement agreements are in the best interests for all parties…

Mr. Speaker, once again this is the third of three settlement bills. The arguments that I had made on the first two bills are applicable to this one. I will just add one other point. And that is that these three bills have a cost to the…

Reclaiming my time, Mr. Speaker, I just want to emphasize, this is the core point. The gentleman just said he doesn't have it, and yet we are being asked here, Members of the U.S. House, representing everybody in this country, taxpayers…

Mr. Speaker, that the issue here is not the benefits of these settlements. We think those settlements are good. The one element that we have a question on is what is the cost to the taxpayer? I think that is a very, very legitimate issue…

As has been pointed out, this and the two bills that follow ratify out-of-court settlements that arise from decades-old litigation filed by various Indian tribes against the United States Government. They apportion water rights, among the…

Mr. Speaker, we are told over and over that this is an agreement that has been painstakingly and meticulously worked out. That's the sort of agreement that we would have if I were to sue the Federal Government for $10 million, go to my…