Mr. Speaker, let me remind my colleagues that this is a fair rule. It allows for a Democrat substitute, and we can debate that, and if desired, we can vote on that substitute. It also allows for a motion to recommit. We can have a vote on…

We Republicans certainly welcome the ranking member of the Committee on Ways and Means and his colleagues to the cause of fiscal discipline. We did not see such rhetoric when we were spending the Social Security surplus when they were in…

Mr. Speaker, H.R. 1157, the Pacific Salmon Recovery Act, would authorize the Secretary of Commerce to provide financial assistance to five States in the Pacific Northwest for salmon habitat restoration projects in both coastal waters and…

I, like all my colleagues, was saddened by Joe's death, even though we knew that it was inevitable. But I had an opportunity to serve with him on the Committee on Rules for 5 rac{1}{2} years, and if I were to describe Joe as simply as I…

as the House considers the conference report for the National Defense Authorization Act for FY- 2000, I would like to restate my intent on a provision I authored in last year's Defense Authorization Act, which is currently being…

Mr. Chairman, let me first say that I appreciate all the hard work that the gentleman and his committee have done on this measure. As the chairman knows, the recent listings of the nine salmon and steelhead runs in the Pacific Northwest as…

I rise in support of this open rule and the underlying legislation because this legislation provides some long overdue reforms to address the burden of federally mandated paperwork. As a former small businessman before I got into this…

Right now, the wheat producers of Washington State are facing wheat prices that are below the cost of production. This means that they can either choose to sell for a loss or store their wheat in hopes that prices will return to a higher…

During a June 10 hearing in the Committee on Resources, witnesses from the National Park Service testified that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is not properly complying with the implementing regulations of the Native American Graves…

Mr. Speaker, this rule is a fair and balanced attempt to bring to the floor an issue that is front and center in every American's mind. The rule provides for a closed rule, which is typical on tax issues. The rule further provides that the…

I strongly share their concerns about the lack of relief from the burdensome Community Reinvestment Act. Let me share a few statistics. The CRA, first passed in 1977, took only two pages of bill language when first authored by former…

This amendment cosponsored by the gentleman from California [Mr. Cox] and the gentleman from Ohio [Mr. Hall] is intended to be a substitute for the Cox amendment published in the Congressional Record on July 15, 1997. It is a compromise…

The primary function of the Committee on Rules is to manage bills on the House floor. In doing that, of course we did have a Committee on Rules when the Republicans were in the minority, and that was run by the Democratic Party. In fact…

this is a commonsense approach to a small problem, frankly, that deals with 640 acres in the Wenatchee National Forest, where an individual wants to exchange it to potentially put this into development; but he cannot exchange it unless…

H.R. 408, the International Dolphin Conservation Program Act, essentially codifies an international agreement between 12 nations known as the Declaration of Panama. Were the House to make any significant changes to H.R. 408, this historic…

let us take a look at the facts. This is a very narrowly drawn claim settlement bill. There is no net market value to this project. For example, the CBO in their scoring of this, weighed what the district owed versus what the Federal…

Mr. Chairman, this bill is a result of settlement negotiations between the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation and the Oroville-Tonasket irrigation district, which is located in my district in central Washington. As explained by my colleague from…

I rise in support of H.R. 4236, the omnibus parks bill. This bipartisan legislation will improve the lives of thousands of Americans. I am particularly interested in this legislation because it includes a provision, the Hanford Reach…

I want him to know, however, that the House and Senate have accepted legislation dealing with this from a structural standpoint. Those issues are in committee right now and should be resolved in the authorization bill. I also appreciate…

the purpose of H.R. 3068, authored by the gentleman from Minnesota [Mr. Gutknecht], is to accept the request of the Prairie Island Indian Community to revoke their charter of incorporation issued under the Indian Reorganization Act. The…

I want to talk about it from a macro standpoint, because it has a huge impact beyond what we talked about. For example, the power in the Northwest comes from falling water. About 90 percent of our power comes from water over dams. Whenever…

That is right. If we look at what the intention of the act was 23 years ago, and you voted for it because the intention was good, that action by this farmer would do nothing at all to enhance the species. It is counter to what we are…

One local farmer made a very profound statement. I think it is indicative of probably all of us across the West that have private property, where the treat would come by having an endangered species found on our private property. This…

former Senator John Sharp Williams, an admirer of Thomas Jefferson, once noted that: "My reading of history convinces me that most bad government has grown out of too much government." This is exactly the problem that we are attempting to…