{"database": "openregs", "table": "congressional_record", "rows": [["CREC-2004-12-20-pt1-PgE2205-3", "2004-12-20", 108, 2, null, null, "CONFERENCE REPORT ON H.R. 4818, CONSOLIDATED APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 2005", "HOUSE", "EXTENSIONS", "ALLOTHER", "E2205", "E2206", "[{\"name\": \"John B. Larson\", \"role\": \"speaking\"}]", "[{\"congress\": \"108\", \"type\": \"HR\", \"number\": \"4755\"}, {\"congress\": \"108\", \"type\": \"HR\", \"number\": \"4818\"}]", "150 Cong. Rec. E2205", "Congressional Record, Volume 150 Issue 140 (Monday, December 20, 2004)\n\n[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 140 (Monday, December 20, 2004)]\n[Extensions of Remarks]\n[Pages E2205-E2206]\nFrom the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]\n\n CONFERENCE REPORT ON H.R. 4818, CONSOLIDATED APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 2005\n\n                                 ______\n\n                               speech of\n\n                          HON. JOHN B. LARSON\n\n                             of connecticut\n\n                    in the house of representatives\n\n                      Saturday, November 20, 2004\n\n  Mr. LARSON of Connecticut. Mr. Speaker, in my capacity as the ranking\nminority member of the Committee on House Administration, our panel has\nauthorizing responsibilities over much of the legislative-branch\nportion of the omnibus appropriations bill. Like the rest of the\nomnibus, the legislative portion is not perfect, but the sundry\nagencies under our jurisdiction will generally have the resources they\nneed to continue providing their services to the Congress, and to the\nAmerican people.\n  Of course, as a procedural matter, I am disappointed that a\nfreestanding legislative appropriation did not become law in a regular\nprocess, before the start of the fiscal year. Such a bill, H.R. 4755,\npassed the House in July and later passed the Senate in plenty of time\nfor conferees to report. I recognize that this was not the fault of the\ngentleman from Georgia [Mr. Kingston] or the gentleman from Virginia\n[Mr. Moran]. I hope they and all Members have the opportunity to\nconsider the fiscal 2006 bill in a timely, orderly and ordinary\nprocess.\n  With respect to specific agencies under the jurisdiction of my\ncommittee, I am pleased that this bill funds a staff fitness facility\nfor the House. This important facility will provide a way for our\nemployees to remain fit and healthy. None of us can properly discharge\nour duties without the support of our staffs and the other House\nemployees. This long-awaited facility will be a tremendous addition to\nthe House, making it, as well as our employees, stronger.\n  I am disappointed that the bill does not include a House provision,\nauthored by the gentleman from Illinois [Mr. Kirk], eliminating funding\nfor the Capitol Police mounted unit. In my judgment, the police have\nfailed to articulate a sufficient rationale for spending hundreds of\nthousands, millions over time, for this purpose. There is little doubt\nthat the U.S. Park Police can benefit from maintaining a mounted unit,\nsince the Park Police must patrol thousands of acres of parkland in the\nDistrict of Columbia, much of it well off-road. The Capitol Police\nfaces no such situation, and in fact, will have to spend tens of\nthousands each year simply to remove the manure from the carefully\nmanicured and fairly small Capitol grounds. Absent a sufficient\njustification that the Capitol Police mounted unit was worth its cost,\nI supported the efforts of my Illinois colleague to save the taxpayers'\nmoney. I look forward to the important report by the Government\nAccountability Office, due in March, on this subject.\n\n  I share the concerns expressed in the conference report about the\nongoing efforts to reorganize the police. I look forward to reviewing\nthe results of the GAO's contributions in this area. The conferees also\ndirected the Capitol Police to review all existing operations and\ngeneral expenses to determine whether any ``outsourcing'' opportunities\nmay exist. That term has come to mean the wholesale transfer of jobs\noverseas, and as a result, its use in the report may disturb many.\nNaturally, I am eager to review the Capitol Police's report to the\nappropriators on this subject, and on the USCP's expensive but\nmechanically unsound Command Vehicle. It seems that these subjects, and\nmany others related to USCP operations and expenses, would make\nexcellent subjects for formal hearings next year in our committee.\n  In connection with the Capitol Police, I am greatly concerned that\nseveral legislative provisions within the jurisdiction of the House\nAdministration Committee found their way into this appropriations bill.\nIn November, I joined my chairman, the gentleman from Ohio [Mr. Ney],\nand the chairman and ranking minority member of the Senate Rules and\nAdministration Committee, in a joint letter to the Capitol Police Board\ndirecting the Board not to request further such provisions in its\nfuture budget requests, and reminding the Board that it should bring\nproposed legislation to those committees for consideration. Only in\nthis way can the authorizing and appropriations processes work as\ndesigned, and for the good of the men and women of the Capitol Police\nand the people they serve. The Capitol Police was certainly not the\nonly agency within our jurisdiction which asked for legislative\nprovisions in its budget request this year. The others should similarly\nheed the message we conveyed to the Police Board.\n  With respect to the Library of Congress, while I am pleased that the\nCongress will extend temporarily the authorization for the National\nFilm Preservation Board and Foundation, which enabled the funding of\nthis important work for another 2 years, I am dismayed\n\n[[Page E2206]]\n\nthat separate reauthorization legislation, under the jurisdiction of\nthe Judiciary Committee and House Administration, has not passed. I\ntrust these committees can quickly address this matter next year. I\nagree with the conferees, who lauded the work of the Copyright Office\nwith respect to digitizing future and historic copyright records. The\nCopyright Office, which depends on the public to defray a portion of\nits expenses, is headed in the right direction in this regard. I also\nnote the continuing good work of the Congressional Research Service,\nwithout which none of the Members of either House could do his or her\nwork effectively.\n\n  I am hopeful that our committee can authorize a student-loan\nrepayment program for the Office of Compliance. This important tool has\nhelped numerous Federal agencies, including the House, to attract and\nretain the staff needed to build an effective organization.\n  With respect to agencies within our committee's jurisdiction and\nfunded in bills other than the legislative appropriations bill, I am\nglad to see that the conferees agreed to fund the Election Assistance\nCommission above the amount proposed by the Senate. The $14 million\nappropriated will help continue the work started by the EAC to serve as\nthe clearinghouse for Federal elections. Although, the EAC got a late\nstart, with the commissioners not taking office until December 2003,\nthey must continue working to improve the election process. If Congress\nconsiders a supplemental appropriations bill next spring, the EAC\nshould consider requesting additional resources.\n  Yet again, I am not pleased that the majority bypassed the committee\nand inserted into this bill a provision allowing contributions to\ncampaigns for Federal office to be diverted to campaigns for State or\nlocal office. While this may be a meritorious idea, I certainly believe\nit should have been considered in an orderly process in the committees\nof jurisdiction, and not simply added to a massive appropriations bill.\n  Finally, the Smithsonian Institution received an increase of 3.1\npercent over the fiscal 2004 budget, an increase of more than $19\nmillion, but still 2 percent below its request. The funding level was\nreasonable given the overall budget constraints this year, but, as in\nthe past, will not fund an aggressive approach to the Smithsonian's\naging infrastructure and inadequate maintenance. I hope that Congress\nwill soon recognize that its year-by-year, finger-in-the-dike approach\nto budgeting actually accelerates the deterioration of the physical\nplant of our nation's greatest repository of knowledge and ongoing\nresearch.\n  Congress last year finally authorized the National Museum of African\nAmerican History and Culture, which is in preliminary phases of\nengineering studies, staffing and planning, and which does not yet have\na location or director. The $5 million request to continue the start up\nprocess was reduced to $3.9 million, which will impede the process. The\nBoard of Regents expects to make a site recommendation to relevant\ncommittees, including House Administration, late next year.\n  Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the hard work of the Appropriations\nCommittee and look forward to working with the committee on matters of\ncommon concern next year.\n\n                          ____________________"]], "columns": ["granule_id", "date", "congress", "session", "volume", "issue", "title", "chamber", "granule_class", "sub_granule_class", "page_start", "page_end", "speakers", "bills", "citation", "full_text"], "primary_keys": ["granule_id"], "primary_key_values": ["CREC-2004-12-20-pt1-PgE2205-3"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 0.48532080836594105, "source": "Federal Register API & Regulations.gov API", "source_url": "https://www.federalregister.gov/developers/api/v1", "license": "Public Domain (U.S. Government data)", "license_url": "https://www.regulations.gov/faq"}