Bob Wise

I want to report on the flooding in West Virginia over this weekend, and I particularly want to say, following 2 days of visiting hard-hit communities, there are a lot of people to thank. Particularly high up there is the West Virginia…

I am fascinated. I keep hearing about President Clinton's gas tax that was passed in 1993. That was actually part of a much larger bill. I never hear about other parts of that bill. How about President Clinton's tax cut, the tax cut that…

I simply rise in strong support of this resolution. It was in 1787, of course, that our Constitution became a reality; 4 years later, the Polish Constitution. It was a wave of constitutional freedom and democracy sweeping the world at that…

as I drove several hundred miles across the State of West Virginia yesterday visiting flood-hit areas, I stopped off at a lot of gasoline stations. I saw gasoline selling for everything and bulk gasoline selling for everything from $1.28…

I voted for the Coalition budget; I voted for the President's budget, both designed to get us to a balanced budget within a 6-year period, the same as the parameters set in the Republican leadership budget. I voted very strongly against…

Speaking of education, Mr. Chairman, I find it interesting to talk about this great Federal monolith, since 94 cents of every dollar in public education is at the State and local level. Let us talk about the Department of Commerce. If you…

the year before, I might point out, it was Democrats, without one vote from this side of the aisle, Mr. Speaker, that successfully gave a tax cut to people under $26,000 a year, working people, and that was in lieu of the minimum wage. No…

the bill that has been under consideration on the floor of the House for the past few hours has been dealing with the defense of our Nation, and no one in this Chamber would think of unilaterally disarming our country militarily. So why is…

now I just want to get this straight, myself and a lot of taxpayers. This Congress is about to approve a million-dollar select committee to hold hearings into matters that three other subcommittees are already holding hearings into. The…

First is the gas tax. We have heard a lot about that recently, as consumer prices have skyrocketed, certainly certain things have to be done. I am delighted to see that the President has called for what many of us were urging, which is a…

I want to vote on the minimum wage. In this place, the Congress sometimes never fails to amaze me. Just when I think I am getting the hang of how things operate, it always pops up and does just the reverse. I thought that because of…

I want to shift gears for a second. I can be as partisan as anybody can, I think, and probably have been, but it has also become increasingly clear to me that there is a need for a nonpartisan approach to this institution, this institution…

I am from West Virginia and the gentleman is from New Jersey. Both are centers for the chemical industry. If you want to start a race for the bottom, pitting us against each other, each State having to set its own standards, as opposed to…

I happen to believe in that maxim and I believe in another maxim. You ought to get what you pay for. And if you pay a dedicated tax, you ought to get what it is dedicated to. And if you pay 18.4 cents at the gas pump for roads and bridges…

I rise today to remember still, as we are all still feeling, those who were on the plane with Secretary Ron Brown. It was a loss that this country feels now and is going to feel for quite a long time. In West Virginia we feel this deeply…

I am going to read a list of names. What is wrong with this list? Madison. Adams. Franklin. Jefferson. Wise. Gingrich. Mr. Speaker, if you said that the last two should not be confused tonight with the first four, you are absolutely…

abortion is a tough debate under any circumstances, and an emotional one. But I think the reason I oppose this rule and oppose this measure is because in this one this debate is wrongly directed. This is not an issue about whether or not a…

there is too much crime and too much violence in these crimes. That is why I support doing away with the gun ban because it is false advertising. It does not deal with these problems. This ban, the existing ban, deals with how a firearm…

in this often contentious debate about gun control, I wanted to talk for a bit about why I supported lifting the ban on so-called assault weapons, but I would like to move beyond that, as well, as to what can be done. I supported lifting…

the gentleman from Colorado movingly referred a moment or two ago to his friends in Colorado who speak common sense and my friends, Betsy and Al and others, are of much the same mind. They know a couple of things, too. They know people…

this is indeed the same speeches and same thing this Congress did last week, and the month before, and the week before, and the weekend before that, but there really is something different: It is a week later, and another week of cuts…

here we go again today, another temporary spending bill, or CR, continuing resolution, as it is known. The Republican leadership promised to run Congress like a business. What kind of business can operate this way, where it is now in the…

I have been visiting title I programs across the State of West Virginia. Of course, there is a problem too that you pointed out. All of our States have to prepare their budgets for the next school year now in the spring. In the State of…

if my colleagues want to know why I am voting today against the temporary spending bill, look no further than Rock Branch grade school and over 500 grade schools across West Virginia. This week at Rock Branch I met with parents, teachers…

By March 1, this country will default on its debt, that is right, for the first time in 209 years, this country runs the risk of defaulting on the national debt. Now, I might express, Mr. Speaker, this is not debt, this is not voting to…