Providing For Consideration Of H.R. 3288, Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2010

Floor Speech

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Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, I have great respect for my colleague from Arizona, but technically, this point of order is about whether or not to consider this rule and ultimately the underlying conference report. In reality, it is about trying to block this report without any opportunity for debate and without any opportunity for an up-or-down vote on the legislation itself. I think that is wrong, and I hope my colleagues will vote ``yes'' so we can consider this important legislation on its merits and not stop it on a procedural motion. Those who oppose the conference report can vote against it on final passage. We must consider this rule, we must have a debate, and we must pass this legislation today.

I have the right to close, but in the end, I will urge my colleagues to vote ``yes'' to consider the rule.

Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

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r. McGOVERN. I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, House Resolution 961 provides for the consideration of the conference report to accompany H.R. 3288, the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2010. The rule waives all points of order against the conference report and against consideration. It provides that the conference report shall be considered as read and, finally, it provides that the previous question shall be considered as ordered without intervention of any motion except 1 hour of debate and one motion to recommit.

Mr. Speaker, we're here finishing up the fiscal year 2010 appropriations bills. This consolidated appropriations bill is the product of many, many months of hard work. It contains six of the seven outstanding appropriations bills.

Mr. Speaker, in all candor, I must admit that I have a slightly different perspective on the appropriations process than I did 3 years ago. Then, in the minority, I questioned why the then-Republican majority wasn't able to finish their bills on time. I realize now that in many cases, finishing the bills in a timely fashion wasn't always the fault of the majority in the House but rather a result of the dysfunction in the Senate.

Now, 3 years later, the situation is similar. We, this House, this Democratic majority, did our job. We passed every single bill in a timely way and we did so responsibly, and in many cases joined by many of my colleagues on the other side of the aisle. For example, the Homeland Security bill passed with 389 votes, including the support of my good friend from California.

Now, despite our hard work to move this process forward, I am sure that the gentleman from San Dimas is going to protest about the process here, that this bill is made up of six bills, and I'm sure he will come up with some clever, colorful phrases to describe his feelings today, and we all look forward to that. But we are essentially reaffirming votes that have already been taken on issues that have already been previously debated and discussed.

The chairmen and ranking members of the appropriations subcommittees deserve credit for their bills. There is critical funding included for roads and bridges; for rail projects; for greenhouse gas emissions; for public housing and other housing vouchers; for critical international aid programs like the response to global HIV/AIDS, poverty, food security, education, and international disaster assistance; for programs that prevent and prosecute violence against women and other justice programs; critical health programs including NIH funding, public health programs, programs addressing health professions workforce shortages, LIHEAP, Head Start, and other education programs. These bills are about priorities. They are about values. They show who we are as a Congress, and I stand by the values articulated in these bills.

While some will complain that we are spending too much money, that these bills are too big, I look at it in a very different way. Mr. Speaker, I see these bills as an opportunity to reverse years of neglect: neglect to our roads and our bridges, neglect to our lower income neighbors and friends, neglect to our education system, and neglect to our veterans.

You see, Mr. Speaker, this Democratic majority inherited a troubled country. Our Republican friends squandered budget surpluses. Their reverse Midas touch turned surpluses into deficits. They spent money like they were drunken sailors and yet never felt the responsibility to pay for their spending. They turned a blind eye to transgressions of Wall Street, allowing Main Street to feel the pain of Wall Street running wild.

What did we start out with? We started out with, we inherited, a financial system on the brink of collapse, the worst recession since the Great Depression, two wars that weren't paid for, a broken health care system, and a 1950s energy policy. That was the gift from the Bush administration and a Republican majority in Congress. So there's been a lot to fix this year.

Just look at some of the numbers, Mr. Speaker. Job growth under the current administration is reversing a long downward spiral that started under the last President. The stimulus plan is working as planned. We are making sound investments in helping Americans find good jobs and getting this economy moving again. The unemployment rate dropped last month and the efforts of this Congress are helping people afford a home, helping to breathe life back into our real estate economy. Even the TARP program is working better than expected. Confidence has been restored to Wall Street, and more than $200 billion will be returned to the government.

So here we are, Mr. Speaker, digging out from the Bush economy, the Bush recession. It's time to get this done, but it's not going to happen overnight. It's time to fund our priorities and meet the needs of the American people. Simply, Mr. Speaker, this is a good bill we will consider today, and it deserves to be supported by every single Member of this body.

With that, I reserve the balance of my time.

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Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Speaker, let me just say that this Congress has a very tough job. We are digging ourselves out of the mess that Mr. Bush and his Republican allies created. Years and years of neglect. Years of ignoring the most important pressing problems facing our country.

When President Obama got elected, he inherited a crumbling infrastructure in this country because of the years of neglect by the Republicans and by the Republican President. He inherited a country that had no solid plans for alternative or renewable or clean energy because of the neglect and the obstructionism on the other side. He inherited a country where the health and well-being of our citizens had been neglected for years and years and years. So what we are doing here and what these appropriations bills are responding to are the years of neglect.

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