Conference Report On H.R. 2996, Department Of The Interior, Environment, And Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2010

Floor Speech

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Madam Speaker, former President Woodrow Wilson, who was, of course, a considerable scholar of this institution, used to reflect that Congress on the floor is Congress' theater, but Congress in committee is Congress at work.

I want to particularly commend Chairman Dicks and Ranking Member Simpson for the manner in which they worked and, more importantly, for how they worked together throughout the process.

We hear a great deal--and there is sometimes considerable truth in it--about the absence of bipartisanship. I just want to make a point as a freshman member of this subcommittee as to how much bipartisanship there was on the subcommittee and as to how well we worked together. Of course, that couldn't happen without the chairman and ranking member setting the example and taking the lead.

You know, like all Members, I look at this appropriations bill, and I come to an undebatable conclusion that it spends too much money on things that I don't care about but not nearly enough on things that I do. Unfortunately, every other Member seems to have a somewhat different opinion about what is important and about what is not, and it has been left to the chairman and ranking member, as best they can, to work through that. Yet where I think there can't be much debate is that this is truly an excellent piece of legislation and funding from a Native American perspective and from the perspective of Indian country.

Madam Speaker, it's a trite but true observation that the First Americans are often the last Americans. They live shorter lives; they are poorer on average; they are less educated; they have less opportunity. This bill makes major steps to try and correct those inequities. It does really revolutionary things, in my opinion, in terms of health care, in terms of law enforcement, and in terms of education.

I want to particularly thank again Ranking Member Simpson and Chairman Dicks for taking that into consideration. I want to thank, frankly, every other member of the committee who I found really focused on this issue, and I want to thank the staff, which really did a superb job as well. We had a series of absolutely first-rate hearings, and I think we made good and wise decisions that the American people can be proud of.

It was a privilege to be able to participate on this committee.

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