District of Columbia Appropriations

Floor Speech

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Mr. HOYER. I thank the gentlelady for yielding. I want to join her in saying that there were some minuses in this bill, and the minuses in this bill historically have been, as it relates to the District of Columbia, that the Congress has treated the District of Columbia as its own possession as opposed to an independent political jurisdiction that has been granted home rule, and the Congress ought to honor that home rule.

As we urge democracies around the world or dictatorships around the world to honor the views of their people, the Congress of the United States ought to honor the wishes of the people of the District of Columbia. I always lament when we put in these individual provisions.

I also want to say to the gentlelady from the District of Columbia how outstanding a job she does representing this jurisdiction in which we have the Capital of our country, the only capital of a free world country whose citizens do not have a representative in their parliament who has the authority and privilege of voting.

It's a lamentable fact that Mrs. Norton, who is speaking to us this afternoon, does not have that vote, and all of us ought to recognize that it's a blight on our democracy. But I congratulate her on representing the District of Columbia in such an extraordinarily positive fashion even without the vote. And it would be awesome what she could do, in addition to that, with the vote.

And I rise, as well, to make a couple of comments, Mr. Speaker, about the business that is pending before this Congress. We have passed an omnibus appropriation bill, this bill that is on the desk here, 1,207 pages, reported out last night, a conference report. I urged support of that bill. But it was not, of course, consistent with the pledges that were made to do appropriations bills discretely, that is, one after another. It's difficult to do that, unfortunately. It's the way we should do it, but we didn't do it this year, and we haven't done it in years past under Democratic and Republican leadership.

But I am concerned, Mr. Speaker, that we have some critically unfinished business pending in the Congress of the United States. We passed a bill here through the House some days ago which provided for the extension of the payroll tax cut that we gave to 160 million Americans last year. Our economy is still not as robust as we want it to be, and the President of the United States has said let's continue that tax cut for middle-income Americans. We have not done that yet. And, unfortunately, the bill that we passed through the House had items in it that obviously the Senate did not agree with. The majority leader tried to put that bill on the floor for consideration by the Senate, and the minority leader objected to that consideration, so it has not moved.

In addition to the middle class tax cut, we must not leave Washington without providing for an extension of the unemployment insurance. This great Nation, this wealthy Nation, should not abandon those who cannot find work through no fault of their own. If we do not act, then a million Americans may go off unemployment insurance and not have money to feed themselves, to assist in feeding their families, pay their housing bills and continue to afford to look for work. In the month of February, another 2 million will find themselves similarly situated.

Lastly, we must pass an extension of the compensation of doctors who are serving Medicare patients. That is critical to do so that we can assure medical treatment for our seniors. There's not a Member of Congress who wants to see that happen, or at least none who say they want to see it happen.

So I want to join Ms. NORTON as we stand here today as we are leaving for the weekend, but I also want to call the House's attention to a concern that I have. The majority leader, Eric Cantor, announced to us the schedule this afternoon and said that we would not be meeting today, later in the day, after our business, which is now concluded, that we would not be meeting on Saturday or Sunday, and that we may come back on the 19th, which is Monday.

Now, one of the things I was concerned about is that he said on the floor that it is difficult to predict if or when we need to return. Now, he meant by that that he wasn't sure when the Senate was going to act. I understand his meaning. But I will tell you, Mr. Speaker, that I hope the American people will demand that we return and that they will demand that we act before we adjourn sine die, before we conclude this first session of the Congress.

Yes, Christmas is coming, Hanukkah, Kwanza and other celebrations, but there will be no celebration for those people who cannot find work and who believe that the support system that this country has extended to them will be ripped out from under them.

So I am here on the floor to join my colleague in talking about the omnibus appropriation bill to say that I'm pleased that we passed it. It will keep our government operating. It has not yet passed, but hopefully in the next 48 hours the Senate will have acted--hopefully in the next 24--on the conference report, and we'll get it ready to send it to the President.

I am very hopeful that all 435 Members of this House and that all 100 Members of the United States Senate are committed to the proposition that we will not leave this town and that we will not abandon our responsibilities to assure the adoption of the three measures which I have referenced.

The middle class tax cut will affect 160 Americans. I frankly think we should pay for that with a slight surcharge, not a sacrifice, just an additional contribution by some of the best off in America, not because of class warfare but because they want, I'm sure, to help their fellow citizens who need help.

We are committed to the proposition that we will not leave here without making sure that that middle class tax cut continues, that unemployment insurance is available and that doctors will be compensated.

So I thank the gentlelady for yielding for this comment. And in closing, let me say that I wear a yellow ribbon. There's a great song called ``Tie a Yellow Ribbon 'Round the Ole Oak Tree.'' We wear that yellow ribbon for the troops that have been overseas defending freedom in harm's way. We wear that yellow ribbon to remind them of how pleased we are that so many of them are coming home.

The President has met his commitment to end our participation in the war in Iraq and bringing our troops home. We welcome them home. We honor them for their service. And we pledge to them our continuing care for their needs resulting from their service.

And I thank the gentlelady for yielding this time to call our attention to the important work that is yet to be done in this first session of this Congress.

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