Continuing Appropriations and Surface Transportation Extensions Act, 2011

Floor Speech

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Mr. POLIS. I yield myself such time as I might consume.

Madam Speaker, House Resolution 1782 provides for consideration of the Senate amendment to the House amendment to the Senate amendment to H.R. 3082.

The rule makes in order a motion offered by the chair of the Committee on Appropriations, or his designee, for the House to concur in the Senate amendment to the House amendment to the Senate amendment to H.R. 3082.

The rule provides 1 hour of debate equally divided and controlled by the chair and ranking minority member of the Committee on Appropriations.

The rule waives all points of order against consideration of the motion, except those arising under clause 10 of rule XXI.

The rule provides that the Senate amendment shall be considered as read.

Madam Speaker, I rise today in support of approving a continuing resolution to maintain a level and consistent funding stream for our government. It's one of our primary constitutional responsibilities as Members of Congress to keep the Federal Government running through the passage of appropriations legislation. All money spent by the Federal Government needs to be approved by this body, Madam Speaker, right here in this Congress.

This continuing resolution will ensure that all necessary and vital functions of government will continue uninterrupted until March 4, 2011, instead of grinding to a halt at midnight tonight. If we do not act now, the Federal Government will shut down tonight at midnight, something that I hope no one in our body desires.

The CR will fund the Federal Government at levels already approved by the House in the FY 2010 appropriations bills, aside from a small number of programs that both parties in the Senate have agreed on that would otherwise expire or be severely disrupted. It is a very straightforward measure, Madam Speaker, to keep the government running and get us through the next few months and into the next Congress. These are funding levels that we have voted on multiple times. This language is the result of bipartisan negotiations in the Senate, and it's my hope that my colleagues on the other side of the aisle will work with us now to move this important measure forward to passage and avoid a government shutdown.

We have 4 days until the Christmas holiday, and we are just weeks away from the end of the year. I can't think of anything that we would do to undermine the work that this Congress has done these last 2 years through a shutdown of the Federal Government. The uncertainty that a failure to pass this rule would lead to is the last thing our Nation's retailers or economy need, let alone the millions of Americans who depend on critical services of our Federal Government.

Let me give an example, Madam Speaker. The next few days are amongst the busiest travel times of the year. Is it wise to cut off at midnight tonight funding for our Federal air marshals? This CR would allow the Federal air marshals to maintain the existing 2010 fourth-quarter coverage levels for international and domestic flights. This funding allows for continued air marshal training, including investigative techniques, criminal terrorist behavior recognition, firearms proficiency. This funding allows the Federal air marshals to fulfill their mission of protecting air passengers and crews.

This funding is critical especially during this peak holiday travel time. What a Christmas gift it would be, Madam Speaker, to all of the families across our country traveling to visit their loved ones if the airports are closed, their flights indefinitely delayed, Grandma's

visit over Christmas is canceled because Congress chose to be a grinch. Madam Speaker, it's for families across our country that we must ensure that our airports and travel remain open through this busy holiday season to allow people to visit loved ones across this country.

This CR would also allow the commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection to maintain the levels of Customs and Border Protection personnel in place in the final quarter of 2010. This would provide proper funding to keep terrorists and their weapons out of the U.S., secure and facilitate trade and travel, and enforce hundreds of U.S. trade regulations, including immigration and drug laws. U.S. Customs and Border Protection law enforcement serve as America's front line on our Nation's borders and ports of entry. It's important we maintain a consistent level of personnel at our Nation's borders.

If we fail to pass this CR, Madam Speaker, it would be a Christmas gift--it would be a Christmas gift to terrorists and criminal cartels, because were we to let down our watch on our borders during this holiday season by interrupting these funds, we would be jeopardizing the U.S. Customs and Border Patrol's ability to do their job and protect America. This funding will enable these officers to inspect our borders, process trade, combat terrorism, and combat smuggling.

In addition to extending the existing authority for the Department of Homeland Security to regulate chemical facilities that are high levels of risk for terrorist attacks, this CR also maintains the additional $23 million in funding for the Department of the Interior's new Bureau of Ocean Energy Management. Madam Speaker, this is the program that monitors offshore oil rigs. In light of the disaster we all witnessed unfold this summer in the Gulf of Mexico, can we all imagine what would happen if we let down our watch now?

These funds are critical to ensure that tragedies like the Deepwater Horizon spill are not repeated. These funds allow existing rigs to continue operating in a manner that's safe to workers on the rigs and the environment. Interrupting these funds would be putting offshore oil rig workers' lives in danger, the environment in danger, and our economy in danger with potentially devastating impact in Florida and Texas and the other gulf States.

This continuing resolution also provides continued funding for important allies such as Israel, Egypt, and Jordan at fiscal year 2009 supplemental levels. By providing assistance and aid to our allies in the Middle East, we strengthen our position and make a vital investment in national security.

It also continues the rate of operations for the Pakistan Counterinsurgency Capability Fund at $700 million. This section also continues the terms and conditions included in the 2009 and 2010 supplemental which helped build and maintain the counterinsurgency capability of Pakistan under the same terms and conditions.

Madam Speaker, this Christmas season is not a time to let down our global watch on the war on terror. We must redouble our efforts, particularly with regard to assisting Pakistan with regard to their counterinsurgency efforts to root out al Qaeda operatives within their borders.

This CR would also support vital programs that are important to the American people. These programs include Federal funding to levels 2007 before the crisis for our national domestic priorities. These funding levels would provide low-income home energy assistance, Pell Grant assistance, and assisting the processing of veterans' benefits and supporting over $4.3 billion in reduced fee loans for small businesses.

It is critical that we make sure that families across America are able to enjoy their holidays free of airport closures and free of flight cancellations. So, too, must this body ensure that we don't give a Christmas gift to the wrong people--the drug cartels and criminal terrorists that threaten our Nation's security.

I reserve the balance of my time.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Mr. POLIS. Madam Speaker, I want to further describe something that the gentlelady from Texas mentioned in her remarks, that this continuing resolution would expand the Federal definition of ``highly qualified teacher'' to include a wider range of teachers, including those who are alternatively certified. This is particularly important for programs where the data shows they are effective, like Teach For America that help improve student outcomes, particularly among our most at-risk students. This definition would support greater local district control and flexibility to help ensure that good teachers are in public school classrooms.

This was, from a policy perspective, largely agreed upon by Democrats and Republicans in policy circles around the definition of highly qualified. But a court recently said that previous language was unable to be interpreted in this way. So, Madam Speaker, we are using this continuing resolution to ensure that these good teachers can stay in the classrooms and that programs like Teach For America can confidently move forward instead of losing their ability to teach midway through the school year.

Madam Speaker, tonight we are on the brink of a government shutdown if we fail to pass this CR, and we shouldn't let our partisan bickering between 99 cents or $1 or $1.01 grind the entire economy of this Nation to a halt, allowing drug cartels carte blanche on the border, and making sure that grandma can't visit the kids in Topeka.

The House has done its part to keep the government funded. We passed a full year-long continuing resolution 2 weeks ago. We acted quickly to maintain government operations, and the Senate failed to overcome obstructionism. Today our situation is that we have what some on both sides, I am sure, would agree is an imperfect continuing resolution that will fund the Federal Government in the new year, which is clearly preferable to a government shutdown in the holiday season.

Madam Speaker, I urge my colleagues to join me in support of this rule. I thank Chairman Obey for his leadership not only on this bill and on this continuing resolution but for his hard work and his staff's hard work.

Madam Speaker, the House did pass two appropriation bills this year, the Transportation-HUD appropriation and Military Construction/Veterans Affairs appropriation, and the Senate hasn't passed a single one. So rather than continuing on with futile work, I think it is important that we get about our business of funding government to ensure that we can move forward with the spirit of Chairman Obey guiding us in the 112th Congress to continue our work in the appropriations process. I praise Chairman Obey and the staff for their hard work on this bill.

I urge a ``yes'' vote on the previous question and on the rule.

I yield back the balance of my time, and I move the previous question on the resolution.

The previous question was ordered.

The resolution was agreed to.

A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Source