LEGISLATIVE BRANCH APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 2006 -- (House of Representatives - June 22, 2005)
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(Mr. LaHOOD asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)
Mr. LaHOOD. Mr. Chairman, first of all, I want to extend thanks to the chairman of the full Committee on Appropriations, the gentleman from California (Mr. Lewis). By this time next week, we will have completed all of the appropriation bills. This is a history-making event in the House of Representatives. I have been here for 11 years; and for the 11 years I have been here, I do not know of another time when we have completed all of our appropriation bills going right up to the July 4 recess break.
That is in large part due to the cooperation that the chairman received from the ranking member, the gentleman from Wisconsin (Mr. Obey), but in large part also from the leadership exhibited by the chairman of the full committee. He set a very, very high bar, a high standard, and all of the subcommittee chairs comported with that; and we will have sent to the Senate all of our appropriation bills as of a week from today or a week from tomorrow. That is an accomplishment that should not go unnoticed, and I compliment the gentleman from California (Mr. Lewis) and the gentleman from Wisconsin (Mr. Obey) for their leadership and also the subcommittee chairmen for that kind of goal setting and then meeting those goals.
Secondly, this is an important bill. This is the legislative branch bill. This is the bill where we say to all of the people, and I personally say to all of the people around the Capitol campus, thank you for the good work you do. The clerks, the people taking down our words here, the Congressional Record that will be printed overnight, the Parliamentarians who do such good work in directing the proceedings of the House, all of the Capitol Hill police who stand guard 24-7 and protect the Capitol, the attending physician's office who keep us all healthy, the people who work in the cloakrooms, the people who help us write bills, the people at CRS who help us make sure that we get the words correct and get them done correctly in the bills that we prepare and take a lot of credit for.
The folks who work at the Library of Congress. The most magnificent facility on the Capitol campus is the Library of Congress. I hate to say it, but it is even more magnificent than this building, but the Library of Congress is a magnificent facility. Members have an opportunity to take full advantage of many of the books there and research that can be done. The Botanical Gardens is also a part of our campus. This is the bill that funds all of that.
This is Congress' opportunity to say thank you to all of the people who work around here. It includes the lawyers who make sure that we do things correctly, and all of the people who work hard day and night to keep this building open, keep Members on the right track, and make sure that the things we do are done by the book.
So I pay my compliments to all of the people who make this magnificent facility that we call the United States Capitol the great place that it is, where we make the laws and have the debates and have the opportunity to represent the people from all over the country. We could not do it without this bill, without the funding in this bill, and we could not do it without the people who provide all of the services, and are very dedicated, many of whom work late hours to keep this place going. I want to take my hat off to those folks.
I want to say a word about the visitors center. I want to say this: it is a done deal. The leadership decided several years we needed a visitors center. Has it been done all correctly? No. And the points that the gentleman from Wisconsin (Mr. Obey) makes are correct points. A lot of the work that has been done has been done by direction of staff of the principals. The principals really have not been that involved. They said they wanted a visitors center, and then they allowed the staff over the last 4 or 5 years to give direction. The architects have had many masters on this visitors center, unfortunately.
But it is going to be built, and it is going to be a magnificent opportunity for people to have good shelter and safety. And after 9/11, we do not want people standing outside, we do not want people standing in inclement weather, and there will be an opportunity for people to get a little bit of history before they enter the Capitol. To say we should throw the whole bill out because of the visitors center does not make sense.
I also want to say something about a subject I have felt very strongly about for the last few years, thank the architect and the chief operating officer and others for helping me with this, and that is the development of a staff health fitness center. It is under way in the Rayburn garage. It is for the staff around here who work long hours. There will be a health fitness center that they will be able to take advantage of, to stay healthy and be able to exercise, to have an opportunity to do the same thing that all of the Members have the opportunity to do. I am grateful that we are finally getting that kind of opportunity for our staff to be able to make this happen.
With respect to the provision that was put in the bill having to do with respect to what do we do around here if another disaster happens, if the Members are injured or killed in some kind of an attack, there has to be something that guides the direction of the House in the event that something happens. The Speaker decided in order to get this moving and in order to get the Senate to go along with something, it had to be included in a bill, and it was put in this bill. It was put in, really, to get something done, to make something happen, to have some provision in the event that something happens.
It is probably not the best way to do it, but maybe it will end up to be the most efficient way to do it, to get the Senate finally to come around and sit down and talk to us about what do we do if something happens around here and how do we account for succession.
The Constitution calls for elections, not appointment. When there is a vacancy, there has to be an election. That is the way we get Members to congregate in this House. That is the way it should be.
My point is the idea that this was included and is some sort of nonessential thing, it is essential that we have a provision in the law that allows us to account for a situation in the event that Members need to be replaced. That is really the reason it was put in.
It is a part of the process here. If we want to get things moving, this is one of the ways to do it. It is not unprecedented. We have included other provisions in bills before to try and get some compromise with the Senate. I congratulate the Speaker for trying to get something done on this. If it does not happen here, it probably will not happen. We need to have this provision in the law.
I ask every Member to consider the good work that goes on around here, the fact that this is the bill that funds all of this. This is the bill that takes care of all of the work that we do around here. It is a good bill. My compliments go to the gentleman from California (Mr. Lewis) and the gentleman from Wisconsin (Mr. Obey) and the work of the staff people that made it possible for this bill to come to the floor today.
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Mr. OBEY. Mr. Chairman, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Washington (Mr. Baird).
Mr. BAIRD. Mr. Chairman, I thank my distinguished colleague, and I appreciate his leadership on this issue. The gentleman from California (Mr. Rohrabacher) spoke eloquently about the need for the Rohrabacher/Baird amendment; and I would like to address it briefly, if I may.
Madison is quoted on this topic, but let me quote Madison from Federalist 47. He said: ``The accumulation of all powers, legislative, executive, and judiciary in the same hands, whether of one, a few, or many, and whether hereditary, self-appointed, or elected, may justly be pronounced the very definition of tyranny.''
Now, I would like, if I may, to ask my colleagues, before we pass this appropriations bill with legislative language in it alleging to maintain continuity, to maybe address a couple of questions, before my colleagues vote on this, and I will yield time. Not for a filibuster, but just to address some questions.
How will we, given Madison's concern, maintain checks and balances during the 49-day period until we have the special elections? I would be happy to yield 30 seconds to anyone who plans to vote for this bill to address that question.
Mr. LaHOOD. Mr. Chairman, will the gentleman yield?
Mr. BAIRD. I yield to the gentleman from Illinois.
Mr. LaHOOD. Mr. Chairman, I will address it in this way: I was here on Ð9/11, as the gentleman was. There is absolutely nothing for the Members of Congress to do. That is the answer to the gentleman's question. The whole thing was taken over by the administration. There is not going to be anything for any Member of Congress, any major decisions to be made during that period of time. We do not need to be around here.
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Mr. BAIRD. Mr. Chairman, reclaiming my time, the fact is this Congress took a number of very important actions, as the distinguished gentleman from Illinois knows, during that same time period. Let me ask this: If what the gentleman is saying is that we are not going to do anything, the executive branch has all the control, then how do we not just define Madison's very definition of tyranny? And if that is the case, are we not with this bill promoting tyranny in this country?
Mr. LaHOOD. Mr. Chairman, will the gentleman yield?
Mr. BAIRD. I yield to the gentleman from Illinois.
Mr. LaHOOD. Mr. Chairman, we were all meandering around here trying to figure out what to do, trying to figure out how to get our phones working. All of the major legislation that was created was created long after the period of time that the gentleman is talking about.
Mr. BAIRD. Mr. Chairman, reclaiming my time, I would beg to differ, and the gentleman, I think, is inaccurate historically.
Mr. LaHOOD. If the gentleman will further yield, what is the time frame?
Mr. BAIRD. Mr. Chairman, I do not have it on the top of my head, my friend; but I can say that it is much faster than 7 weeks. I would assert, furthermore, that if the gentleman's assertion is that we do not need the United States Congress post a catastrophic attack, I think you are making a mistake and doing a disservice. If that is what you are voting for, then let us be honest with the American public, as apparently the chairman of the Committee on the Judiciary has been.
We are voting with this bill to allow martial law, and I think that is a grave mistake.
Let me continue, if I may, and ask a few other questions. How many millions of Americans are you willing to leave without representation as article I, section 8 responsibility such as declarations of war, appropriations of funds, et cetera, are made? How many millions of Americans is the gentleman willing to leave without representation?
Mr. LaHOOD. I was going to respond to the gentleman's other questions.
Mr. BAIRD. Okay. So we do not have that answer.
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Mr. LaHOOD. Mr. Chairman, this is the second year that we have attempted to do this. That is pretty good time for eliminating a program. We had a big debate about this last year. We had a big debate about it this year. There is nobody who spends any time around here that does not think this place is secure. It is not going to be made any more secure by having a few people riding horses around here. Now, for the aesthetic part of it, it might be lovely; but for the security part of it, it is nonsense. It is a waste of money. They will be better used by the Park Service, certainly, than they will be around here. Vote down the gentlewoman's amendment.
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