i want to thank mike stevens, the majority clerk, dave moroni, liz dawson, the minority clerk, jenny casilla, megan medley and ian on my personal staff, each of whom have put in long hours for this i support this fiscally responsible bill which is millions of dollars below the request. i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman from florida reserves. the gentleman from alabama is recognized. mr. aderholt: i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the chair recognizes the gentleman. mr. aderholt: this is my first appropriations bill to help manage on the floor. i very much enjoyed the process and consider it a privilege. i do want to commend the chair, ms. wasserman schultz, for her ms. wasserman schultz, for her professional and courteous e way she conducted the process over the last several months for producing fiscal year 2010 legislative

branch appropriations bill. we have worked closely and very much in the spirit of bipartisanship to meet the funding needs of the legislative branch agencies. in addition, the chair operated under an open process and was responsive to the concerns and input of all the members of this committee. madam speaker, i will say it is unfortunate that the bipartisan approach taken by our committee stopped at the doors of the rules committee. i understand that the rule accompanying this bill, the legislative branch appropriations bill has historically been a structured rule. traditionally, a much more balanced approach has been taken than we are seeing today. 20 amendments were filed with the rules committee and only one was made in order. while i may not have personally supported some of the amendments, i do feel strongly that members should be permitted to debate the issues

of concern to them. members have once again been denied the rights to amendments to appropriations bills. that being said, the committee -- the legislative branch appropriations subcommittee -- subcommittee on appropriations did its work and we did the many competing priorities and many of the agencies challenges. the committee has reduced the fiscal year 2010 requested increase of 15% down to 6.8%, a reduction of $282 million. however, it is important to distinguish that nearly one quarter of this increase or $60 million is for the establishment of the historical buildings revitalization trust fund. you take this into account the agencies will be operating on average of 5.2% increase over the last year. this allows the committee to continue to focus on critical life safety issues surrounding the capitol complex and

maintain adequate funding of current staff operations. amongst the highlights of the -- among the highlights of the bill is $3.75 billion for the expenses for the house of representatives. this provides an appropriate level of funding for the members' representational allowances, additional benefits for house employees and a new badge i.d. system. for the capitol police, $325 million will be included. this amount supports the current strength that 1,799 positions and fully funds the implementation cost with the merger of the library of congress police. it is funded at $541 million and supports the top 20 construction projects. all life safety projects, significant investment and energy saving efforts and thrm 70 million worth of deferred maintenance projects have been funded in this bill. and we have started a very

needed new initiative, the historic building revitalization trust fund to begin to address the capitol complex deteriorating infrastructure. for the library of congress, $647 million is included and includes $15 million for the beginning of needed new technology investments. the government printing office is to continue the development of the federal digital system and is included at $700 million. and in order to meet the congressional demands, additional work force is provided for the congressional budget office and the government accountability office. in conclusion, h.r. 2918 is a well-rounded bill and adequately addresses the needs of the legislative branch. again, i would like to express my thanks to the chair for her bipartisanship and how she has conducted this subcommittee over the last several months, as we've had the hearings and as we've worked together on the bill. i do want to thank the staff,

matt glassman and ian raider for their help with this bill. and, of course, on my side of the aisle, l zimbings dawson, megan medley with my office to help make sure this bill goes through as it has successfully over the last several months. so, again, i thank all the people that's involved and i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from alabama reserves. the gentlewoman from florida is recognized. ms. wasserman schultz: madam speaker, i continue to reserve. i'm sorry. let me try that again. the speaker pro tempore: the chair recognizes the gentlewoman from florida. ms. wasserman schultz: thank you, madam speaker. at this time i yield three minutes to the distinguished gentleman from illinois. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from illinois is recognized for three minutes. mr. jackson: i rise with my friend from tennessee, mr. wamp. madam chair woman, as you know, mr. wamp and i worked with you to name the main hall in

emancipation hall. however, we feel that name needs context and want to work with you, the house administration committee and the senate rules committee to do this. i yield to mr. wamp. mr. wamp: madam chair woman, emans pasion means free or equal -- emancipation means free or equal. the process of emancipation liberated all americans from the bondage of slavery and emancipation hall will tell freedom story to millions of visitors each year. but there is a missing element in the hall to educate visitors about the process of emancipation that this great hall was named to honor. we would like to design and construct an educational display in the capitol visitor center that recognizes the naming of emancipation hall and provides a historical narrative of president lincoln's emancipation of slaves. madam chair woman, can you work with us to help make that happen?

ms. wasserman schultz: madam speaker, reclaiming my time. i would not only be happy to work with you. i could not agree with either of you more on this very worthwhile endeavor. you are both to be commended for your efforts to recognize that slave labor and their hands constructed the great building that we work in every single day. and subject to the authorization of the house administration committee i look forward to working with you towards this goal. mr. jackson: i thank the gentlelady. i'd like the gentlelady to yield me an additional 30 seconds. mswasserman schultz: i'd yield. mr. jackson: we owe a debt of gratitude to the distinguish chairlady and the ranking member for their extraordinary efforts in wrapping their arms around the capitol visitor center which has since the inauguration of the president and since its opening has served as a beaming moment of pride for every member that brings their constituents through that enormous visitor center. and while it started out, madam

speaker, as somewhat of a controversial project, the chairlady and the ranking member have done an extraordinary job on behalf of this institution and all members are grateful. i thank the gentlelady for yielding. mr. wamp: will the gentlelady yield? ms. wasserman schultz: i yield. mr. wamp: protecting the interest of the legislative branch, you have been remarkable in your diligence, both in finishing the c.v.c. and properly managing the affairs of the house. i'd like to thank representative john lewis of atlanta for chairing the slabeplabe task force and working with us along the way in using the c.v.c. and emancipation hall to properly develop this. also, chairman brady of house admin, ranking member lungren have met with us and agreed to this in principle. we are working with the senate trying to dot the i's and cross the t's so we can join up the

authorization in the appropriation at the proper time and before it's too late and i yield back. ms. wasserman schultz: thank you very much. madam speaker, i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman from florida reserves. the gentleman from alabama is recognized. mr. aderholt: madam speaker, i yield two minutes to the distinguished gentleman, the ranking member of the full committee from california, mr. lewis. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from california is recognized. mr. lewis: thank you, madam chairman. i appreciate very much my colleague yielding. i rise to say just a few things about the way these two people are working together, debbie wasserman schultz, and my friend, robert aderholt, on this bill. not the most expensive bill around but probably one of the most important bills. decides whether the legislative branch works effectively or does not work effectively. i want the members and our public to know that these two people have done a fabulous job at putting us on a course that i think makes sense. i especially want to express my

appreciation for concern about the buildings that are the places where we must work and operate the legislative branch. those are institutions in the place that are in serious difficulty because of lack of repair,est. they are on a course that will make -- lack of repair, etc. they are on a course that will make sure they extend their life and are effective to people in the proper way. the visitor center has been said by many. it is a fabulous new addition to the capitol. threw there's an institution developing there as well. you know, we do have a way in washington of creating new bureaucracies, almost no matter what. and there are those who believe they know how to show off the c.v.c. to our public. the members' staff's experties as well and taking our constituents through these facilities is a very important part of our process.

i want to congratulate the ranking member, but especially the gentlelady for language in thbill that very specifically tells those who run the c.v.c. that this is a people's institution and the people's elected representatives ought to play the most significant role in the way it is run. and i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from alabama reserves. the gentlewoman from florida is recognized. ms. wasserman schultz: at this time we have no additional speakers, so i finance -- so i continue to reserve. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman from florida continues to reserve. the gentleman from alabama. mr. aderholt: i yield two minutes to the distinguished gentleman from ohio, mr. latourette, who is a member of the subcommittee. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from ohio is recognized for two minutes. mr. latourette: i thank the gentleman for yielding. and i want to add, i'm new to the appropriations committee, new to this subcommittee, and i have to tell you it's one of the most pleasant experiences

i've had in 15 years in the united states congress. i would commend the chairwoman for hire diligence and oversight and commend -- for her diligence and oversight and commend the ranking member for her partner. this product is truly a bipartisan result. and unlike some of the things that goes around here, the gentlelady from florida did in fact include the minority in every decision that was made in the crafting of this bill. and i want to highlight just a couple of the things that i'm really pleased with. one is the increase in the members representational account. not that members of congress can make more money but so we can attract and retain quality staff folks in our personal offices. i'm also appreciative to the gentlelady including some report language dealing with the congressional research service as a result of the oversight hearing. it's been mentioned before by mr. lewis and others, the icon fund, the anticipated repairs to the united states capitol and the cannon building are going to be astronomical. rather than sort of waiting for disaster to strike, squirreling

money away so we can do it in an orderly fashion is a good idea. the only concern i have, and i want to thank the gentlelady for her willingness to work with us during the full committee markup of this bill, we did have an oversight hearing and folks are aware of the historic inauguration of president obama, a crush of people arrived here. some people in the purple haze or purple zone were stuck in a tunnel and never got the opportunity to see the inauguration. and the report as currently written correctly indicates that some of the problem was with planning with the police, the secret service and others. however, in that oversight hearing, and why i'm grateful for the gentlelady indicating she'll work with us, the police and the secret service indicated that they were turning away hundreds and thousands of people who had received this very fancy invitation. and the invitation, madam speaker, says the honor of your presence is requested at the ceremonies for the inauguration of the president on january 20.

and people were coming to the barricades and basically saying, i've been invited. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. mr. latourette: can i have 30 seconds? mr. aderholt: i yield 60 minutes. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for an additional minute. mr. latourette: people had been coming up to the barricades and said i've been invited by senator feinstein, speaker pelosi, majority leader hoyer and minority leader boehner to attend the inaugurations. so what do you mean i can't get in? of course, these are not invitations. i ask the gentlelady to look at the joint subcommittee on inaugural ceremonies and perhaps we can do better and have a peaceful inauguration in 2013. i thank you and i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman from florida is recognized. ms. wasserman schultz: thank you, madam speaker. at this time i yield three minutes to my colleague and friend, the gentleman from florida.

the speaker pro tempore: the chair recognizes the gentleman from florida for three minutes. mr. hastings: thank you, madam chair. i thank my friend, good friend from florida, especially. and my capacity as co-chairman of the commission on security and cooperation in europe, i'd like to engage in a colloquy with you, ms. wasserman schultz, regarding chronic problem faced bythe commission and that's access to appropriate space for public hearings, briefings and other events. ms. wasserman schultz: i'm very familiar with the outstanding human rights work undertaken by the gentleman from florida, mr. hastings, and the people on the commission. i was part of a hearing in strengthen international law enforcement cooperation. the commission is providing important leadership on this and many other issues at home and abroad, including among parliamentarians through engagement of mr. hastings, a past president of the parliamentaryry assembly. mr. hastings: fulfillment of the commission's congressional

mandate requires the convening of public hearings and briefings as well as sustained engagement with visiting delegations of senior foreign government officials, including parliamentarians, representatives of nongovernmental organizations, and when congress established the commission, there were 35 countries that were part of the helsinki process. today that number has grown to 56. additionally, the commission has paid increasingly attention to developments in osce partner countries including afghanistan, egypt, jordan, israel, among others. the commission's increased workload has led to an increased number of public events as well as meetings with foreign dignitaries. . ms. wasserman schultz: i can appreciate the difficulty and commime committed to working with the gentleman from in finding a solution to this persistent problem. he has identified space that

might meet the commission's needs. mr. hastings: that is correct and i appreciate the chair's thought and look forward to working with her and others fix this problem. thank you so much. ms. wasserman schultz: at this time, i reserve. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from alabama is recognized. mr. aderholt: i yield three minutes to the distinguished the gentleman from illinois, mr. kirk, who is a member of the full committee, who has worked diligently on a lot of these issues that involve the legislative branch, even though he is not on the subcommittee. he has worked diligently, especially regarding the visitors' center and making sure members have the opportunity to bring their guests throughout the capitol and get a quality tour from the state's perspective from where they're from. i yield three minutes to the the gentleman from illinois. the speaker pro tempore: the

chair recognizes the gentleman from illinois. mr. kirk: i rise in support of this bipartisan legislation. i thank mr. aderholt and our chair, ms. wasserman schultz for putting together this legislation. i have worked in this legislation particularly to build a staff gym, which is one of the great successes of this institution, but lately with particularly concerned with the decision quietly made that gave the architect of the capitol the power to control capitol tours in the capitol. it is clear they abused this power. they blocked staff-led tours of the capitol. and on facebook, set a record for poor customer service in condemning congressional staffs politically, naively enough, majority and minority staffs and saying what a poor piece of work they did.

many members came together under the leadership of congresswoman wasserman schultz concerned about this power grab. while the c.v.c. attempted changes, they maintained they still wanted to control access to the capitol, turning away one of our members, who had four mayors visiting here, but they only had three tickets. what this legislation now does, as written by the chair woman, is that we have fired the red coats' ability to control access to the capitol by members of congress and their staff. if constituents come in from whatever district, that members should now know that your staff can get your constituents into the capitol to see it. we have also removed to the restraint so that you can see all provisions of the capitol, especially, for example, my constituents who have seen this institution on c-span and want to look at it and now we can get

it in there. i want to particularly thank the leadership on this legislation, because we have returned a sense of order and control to make sure that the people who were elected to represent them, actually can bring them into the capitol. as i said in full committee, this institution can be quite frustrating, like yesterday. and the one thing that we can guarantee that was under our control, is that we could guarantee that our constituents have a good experience in the capitol. that had been denied by the red coats. this legislation returns that control. i want to particularly thank jenny and liz on our side and ian in congressman wasserman schultz's staff and brett of my staff who helped bring this together. i thank congressmen loebsack and

moran. i started working here as a staffer here in 1984. and while the c.v.c. is quite impressive, its restrictions were beginning to deny a number of members of congress the opportunity to show it to their constituents. this legislation restores that access. and i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from alabama reserves. the gentlewoman from florida is recognized. ms. wasserman schultz: i yield myself two minutes. just to agree wholeheartedly with the gentleman from illinois. and i'm so glad he raised the issue of staff-led tours during the debate on this legislation. it is incredibly important and incredible source of frustration for me as we moved towards opening the c.v.c. to note that there was possible that constituents of ours could come to the capitol, take a tour, walk through this whole building, watch our proceedings in the gallery and leave to go

home never having known or identify who it is that represents them in the united states congress. and preserving staff-led tours is an important way for us to do that and just to promote staff-led tours to anyone who is interested in taking one. you can get a more unique, as good as a tour as the guide-led tours are. you can get it more taylored to your state from your member of congress and i would encourage people interested in doing that, go through their own member of congress to book their reservation and get a tour of the capitol from the person who represents you in washington. and i continue to reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman from florida reserves. the gentleman from alabama. mr. aderholt: i yield two minutes to the distinguished the gentleman from louisiana, mr. scalise. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for two

minutes. mr. scalise: i would like to thank my colleague from alabama. i rise in opposition to this legislative appropriations bill. while i appreciate the work that's been done in putting this bill together, i think it's been a disservice to the american people that the amendments that were filed by so many members on our side to actually cut the growth of spending in this bill were not allowed to come to the floor and ruled out of order. i think it's a sad day when someone attempts to cut spending in a bill that in this case grows government by the size of 7% is ruled out of order and not allowed to be debated on this house floor. i think what's happening now and we saw this yesterday, there was a $64 billion piece of legislation that was brought before congress yesterday, which represent add 12% growth. 12% growth in government at a time when americans across the country are cutting their spending because we are living in tough economic times.

there are some people in this leadership in congress don't get the fact that people want us to cut spending here in washington and not spend at record levels. i think it was very sad that on this this floor yesterday, eight hours was spent on a bill, where $64 billion of taxpayer money was being spent. and we were trying to bring up amendments to cut that rapid growth in spending. and people just last night and today in the leadership on this floor actually used the comments that delaying tactics, they called our amendments to cut spending delaying tactics. some of their members used the term nonsense and foolishness when describing our amendments to cut spending. now, some people on the other side want to spend money so fast that if we put up an amendment to cut spending, to cut growth in spending, they call that a delaying tactic. i think americans across this country want more of those type of delaying tactics to slow down this runaway train of massive

federal spending, money we don't have. every dollar we spend in congress from today all the way through the end of this year is borrowed money. we don't have that money. we need controls. and i would urge opposition to this. and i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from alabama reserves. the gentlewoman from florida is recognized. ms. wasserman schultz: at this time, i have no additional speakers, but i continue to reserve my time. the speaker pro tempore: who seeks recognition? the gentleman from alabama. mr. aderholt: madam speaker, i have no more requests for time and yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from alabama yields back the remaining time. the gentlewoman from florida is recognized. ms. wasserman schultz: it was a privilege to work with the the gentleman from alabama and his staff and i look forward to continuing to work as we move the legislative branch appropriations bill through the conference process. and with that, i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: all

time for debate on the bill has expired. for what purpose does the gentlewoman from new york rise? mrs. mccarthy: i have an amendment at the desk. the clerk: amendment number one printed in house report 111-161 offered by mrs. mccarthy of new york. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to house resolution 559, the gentlewoman from new york and a member opposed each will control five minutes. the chair recognizes the gentlewoman from new york. mrs. mccarthy: i want to thank chairwoman wasserman schultz and ranking member aderholt for letting this amendment come through today. i appreciate all the work that has been done and i'm not going to speak long on this. i want to thank my lead co-sponsor of the civil rights oral history project, congressman john lewis, a civil rights hero, for all of his help in generating support for this program. all i'm going to say is that, i

thank everyone working together to make sure that this amendment comes through. what has happened was it has passed in the house before and money had been appropriated for it, but unfortunately by a technical change, there was a delay until the year 2011. when we have so many people around this country that are advancing in age, but they have the history of the civil rights movement, obviously in the last few years, we have seen some of the great civil rights leaders unfortunately die, but it's also those the housewives, the ordinary citizens who also made a difference. with that, i thank everybody for that. and with that, i yield to chairwoman wasserman schultz. ms. wasserman schultz: i thank the gentlelady for yielding and for your very appropriate amendment. it is really wonderful to see the progress that has been made

on the civil rights oral history project. we did have language in our bill preserving the possibility of providing the funding. i'm glad that we have been able to fast forward that opportunity and look forward to continuing to work with her and accept the amendment. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman from new york reserves? mrs. mccarthy: i yield. mr. aderholt: let me just say, we accept the amendment as well and look forward to working with you on that. mrs. mccarthy: with that, i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: does any member claim time in opposition to the amendment? all time for debate on the amendment has expired. pursuant to house resolution 559, the previous question is ordered on the bill and on the amendment by the the gentlewoman from new york, mrs. mccarthy. the question is on the amendment offered by the gentlelady from

new york. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. the ayes have it. the amendment is agreed to. the question is on engrossment and third reading of the bill. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. the ayes have it. third reading. the clerk: a bill making appropriations for the legislative branch for the fiscal year ending september 3020, 2010 and for other purposes. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from georgia rise? >> motion to recommit. the speaker pro tempore: is the gentleman opposed to the bill? the gentleman qualifies. the clerk will report the motion. >> the gentleman from from georgia moves to recommit the bill to the committee on appropriations with instructions to report the same back to the house forgete with with the following amendments, page 2, line 9, strike $1 billion and insert 1 billion