Waiving Points of Order Against Conference Report on H.R. 2744, Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies...

Floor Speech

WAIVING POINTS OF ORDER AGAINST CONFERENCE REPORT ON H.R. 2744, AGRICULTURE, RURAL DEVELOPMENT, FOOD AND DRUG ADMINISTRATION, AND RELATED AGENCIES APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 2006 -- (House of Representatives - October 28, 2005)

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Mr. PENCE. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Florida for yielding me this time.

Today, the House is set to consider the fiscal year 2006 agriculture appropriations conference report, a bill of some $17 billion in scope. But according to the Congressional Budget Office, Mr. Speaker, the bill violates the budget resolution by $199 million over the budget.

The rule we are debating at this very moment is asking us to waive a budget point of order to enforce the budget.

Mr. Speaker, I cannot do that. These are difficult times in which we live. The American people are looking to this Congress to make the hard choices, to put our fiscal house in order. Today, as we consider this conference report, for my part I will neither be able to vote yes for this rule, but neither am I willing to vote no. The only reason why I will vote ``present'' and urge other conservative colleagues, Republicans and Democrats, to do likewise is simply out of a sense of confidence in the chairman of the House Appropriations Committee.

I have met in recent days and recent hours with Chairman Jerry Lewis of the House Appropriations Committee. The only reason I am not prepared to vote no on this rule is because I believe that almost solely by virtue of the integrity and commitment of Chairman Jerry Lewis, I believe that before we adjourn this year, we will eventually be back to the $843 billion number that this Congress labored to adopt as our budget for discretionary spending, back when the budget of the House was adopted last March. So I believe that at the end of the day, Chairman Jerry Lewis will bring these numbers in line.

But as was the case with the legislative branch conference report that was $85 million over the House budget, the Interior conference report which was $52 million over the budget, this Agriculture appropriations conference report is over the budget by $199 million. And I believe it is imperative that while we recognize this chairman's effort at the end of the day, at the end of this year to square this budget up, that largely due to our colleagues in the Senate, this bill exceeds the House budget.

It also, as I said in a letter to Chairman Dreier last night, it violates the House rules in one other regard. Under rule XXI, paragraph 6, legislation is not to be considered in order where there is a designation or redesignation of a public work in honor of an individual, and this legislation does that, naming a public structure after a sitting Member of the Senate in direct violation of the House rules.

This bill violates the House budget that we adopted in March, this bill violates the House rules, and for that reason I will vote ``present'' on this rule and urge my colleagues to do likewise.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Source