Waiving Points of Order Aganist Further Conference Report on H.R. 3010, Department of Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education, and Related...

WAIVING POINTS OF ORDER AGAINST FURTHER CONFERENCE REPORT ON H.R. 3010, DEPARTMENTS OF LABOR, HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES, AND EDUCATION, AND RELATED AGENCIES APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 2006 -- (House of Representatives - December 14, 2005)

Mrs. CAPITO. Mr. Speaker, by direction of the Committee on Rules, I call up House Resolution 596 and ask for its immediate consideration.

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Mrs. CAPITO. Mr. Speaker, for purposes of debate only, I yield the customary 30 minutes to my friend and colleague from California (Ms. Matsui), pending which I yield myself such time as I may consume. During consideration of this resolution, all time yielded is for the purpose of debate only.

Mr. Speaker, H. Res. 596 is a rule waiving all points of order against the conference report accompanying H.R. 3010 and against its consideration. This rule provides that the conference report shall be considered as read.

Mr. Speaker, the underlying legislation is one of the most important measures we consider each year. The underlying legislation will fund a broad array of programs improving the health, education and lifestyle of many Americans. I would like to congratulate the chairman and ranking member of the full committee and subcommittee for their hard work on this essential spending bill.

Mr. Speaker, the future of America hinges on the success of our future generations and their ability to compete with the rest of the world. In order for our children to succeed, they must be equipped with a high-quality education. I am happy to say that since Republicans took control of Congress, funding for the Department of Education has doubled; more recently, over the last 5 years, total education spending has increased by nearly 50 percent. Our children will benefit from an improved educational system that will enhance their ability to succeed and better prepare that next generation of workers.

The fundamental root of all education is reading. As we enter the holiday season, many families will join together in reading holiday stories providing wonderful memoirs for years to come. Unfortunately, some children are not able to read at the appropriate grade level. Included in this legislation is $1 billion for reading programs that will enable States to eliminate the reading deficit through science- and research-based reading programs.

I am also very pleased that the TRIO and GEAR UP programs are included in this all-important funding package. These programs assist low-income, first-generation college students in their transition from high school to college. This is a difficult transition for any student, but especially those who are the first in their family to attend college. We must continue to support programs like TRIO and GEAR UP so that these students will continue to flourish.

Mr. Speaker, another important responsibility we have is to ensure that our citizens have access to health care facilities and treatments. Included in this legislation is a $66 million increase in funding for community health centers that are so vitally important across this Nation, but especially in rural States, much like my home State of West Virginia. In the last 5 years, Congress has increased funding for these critical components of our health care delivery system by 48 percent.

I am especially pleased with the increased rural health funding included in this conference report. Millions of Americans across the country, including a majority of my West Virginia constituents, are faced with drastically different health care challenges because they reside in rural areas. This conference report includes a $90 million increase in funding for rural health programs. Included in this package are funds for the Office of Rural Health and Research Policy, Rural Health Outreach Grants, Area Health Education Centers, and Medical Training.

These programs will improve rural health care delivery through continued research, improved technology, and development of health care professionals in rural America.

The National Institutes of Health, NIH, continues to serve our Nation well by developing new treatments and cures for the many diseases that plague our society. With a total funding level of the $28.6 billion, the researchers at NIH will be able to continue this mission so we may become a healthier Nation and global society.

A key aspect of a healthier society is one where all citizens have access to prescription drugs; and I am proud to say since November 15, Medicare-eligible beneficiaries have been able to sign up for a prescription drug benefit under Medicare. The resources provided in the underlying legislation will allow the Centers for Medicaid and Medicare Services to properly conduct that outreach effort that is so important that will hopefully enroll every senior that stands to benefit from this program.

Mr. Speaker, we are all aware of the challenges that can potentially face all Americans this coming winter, so the high cost of natural gas is something we are very concerned about. In this bill, the State formula grants for the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program, LIHEAP, are funded at over $2 billion; and we fund an additional billion dollars included in the House-passed Deficit Reduction Act passed earlier this month.

As with any appropriation legislation, we had tough choices to make. These choices are particularly difficult when dealing with the sensitive health and education issues like the ones in this bill. The Committee on Appropriations allocated the available resources in this bill in a manner that emphasizes those programs most important to our Nation.

Mr. Speaker, this is solid legislation that I believe all Members will be able to support.

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

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

I would like to respond to the gentlewoman's assertion that this is the second time around, which it most certainly is. Adjustments were made. There were many folks on our side of the aisle who had concerns about the rural health provisions, I among those folks, because we are heavily reliant on our community health centers. Many adjustments were made, as I mentioned in my opening statement, to address some of the issues of rural health.

When we talk about priorities, this bill is chock full of America's priorities, and certainly education is one of them. I would like to review that in this bill there is $100 million more for those special education needs. As I said 3 weeks ago, is this going to solve the problem? Is this enough money to meet every need for every challenged child and every family of a challenged child? Certainly not. But we are getting there and working towards that.

In terms of Pell grants and affordability of higher education, it is at an all-time high, $4,050; and there is an additional $812 million to meet those challenges for those seeking higher education.

There is a particular emphasis in this bill for math and science. We hear about our students who cannot compete in the global economy, how students are not going into the math and science fields and we are getting left behind by those around the world. This will strengthen the K-12 math and science education.

Again, I would like to mention the TRIO and GEAR-UP programs because they are particularly significant in my State, very effective and long-standing, and I am pleased they are going to be there to help that first-time college student meet the challenges as they move towards higher education.

Another important program is Job Corps. It is a labor program that helps those students transition and move from education to the workforce in a very forceful way and a very successful way.

I realize that choices have to be made in these difficult areas of health, education and labor; but the choices we have made here I think are good solid choices, and I support the rule and the underlying legislation.

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

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

Mr. Speaker, I would like to respond. I have been in Congress for 5 years, and I have great respect for my colleague who has many more years and much experience, much more experience than I do. But my understanding of a conference report, which we are addressing now, it cannot be amended, it cannot be attached to and it cannot have any spending cut attached to it. He is leading me and others to believe that when we step up to vote for this, we will be voting for an across-the-board 1 percent cut. I find that incredulous because I know there will be no such vote placed on this bill. I want the general public viewing this to realize we are voting on a tough bill.

The appropriation is for labor and education and health services, but we are not voting on an across-the-board cut when we vote for this bill. We have made several choices here. We have put more money into reading which I think is vital. Over the past 5 years, incredible amounts of money have been put into pulling the reading skills up in elementary school and improving that vital part of our educational system.

We have worked on increasing special ed funding. I think we can all agree that the needs there are tremendously important across the country. We have improved that as well.

So I think for the understanding to be that this bill is going to be coupled with an across-the-board cut that means this is less than what it is, I find that to be disingenuous; and, quite frankly, I do not think that is quite actually what is going to occur.

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

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Mrs. CAPITO. Mr. Speaker, I urge all of my colleagues to support this fair rule and the underlying legislation, where critical dollars will fund our Nation's education system, health care delivery system and numerous other benefits. With this funding, low-income Americans will be better prepared for a long cold winter with the $2 billion funding in LIHEAP. Our seniors will greatly benefit from the money provided allowing CMS to conduct outreach to our Medicare beneficiaries to sign up for the new prescription drug benefit. The $90 million included for Rural Health Delivery is vitally important to rural America. These are all important programs that will improve the way of life for countless Americans.

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

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