mr. grijalva: thank you, mr. speaker. mr. speaker, the majority frequently congratulates itself for adopting a policy banning earmarks. republican leadership often points to the earmark ban as an important accomplishment in improving the legislative process. it should be noted for the record the provision requiring disclosure of earmarks was inserted into the rules of the house during the 110th congress under a democratic majority. the american people might be surprised to learn that despite claims of strict opposition to earmarks, the majority is bringing a proposed rule to the house floor that would not only allow an earmark in the underlying bill but even waives the basic requirement that such an earmark be disclosed. clause 9 of rule 21 of the rules of the house specifically states that it shall not be in order to consider a rule that waives the requirement to disclose earmarks. and yet the rule the majority seeking to call up specifically states all points of order against consideration of this bill are waived. and t

mr. grijalva. >> thank you, mr. chairman. my apologize, congressmen, friends, let me welcome all the guests and fellow committee members and i want to thank everyone who is going to be involved in testifying today. it's a very unusual hearing. i can't help but feel that we're micromanaging something well outside our purr view. congress has a very limited role in this dilemma, controversy, and the eisenhower memorial commission was established in october of 1999 as part of the department of defense appropriation act. the memorial has -- has been following a deliberate process established through the commemorative works act of 1986. eight members of the eisenhower commission were appointed by congress, and we have done that part of our work. i'm not an art critic. i doodle, but i don't consider it art. so much people value it as art, and it could be horrible mistaken because it's the point about beauty is in the eye of the beholder. this fresh new design for the presidential memorial has been reviewed by people with far more ex

mr. grijalva. >> thank you, mr. chairman. let me begin with mr. whitesell. did the eisenhower project deviate from the process, the memorial process that's in place? >> no, sir. it followed that process pretty much to the letter. >> and the question -- general, if i may, i understand you're still in final stages of that design process. >> actually we are in the latter stages of the design process. the design process phase that we're in has been going on for two years. >> okay. that's the design process, not the selection process? >> no, it is the design process, to bring it to the stage where it can be presented as a final design. so we're in the preliminary -- last stages of the preliminary design approval process. >> and how is that being worked out with concerned parties at this point? >> well, as i noted earlier, we've gone through a series of public meetings which have been open to the public and we've incorporated input as we've received them along the way. we asked in a delay for our appearance before the national planning commission in order to give

mr. grijalva: i had the opportunity to preside and several years i clocked over 100 thundershowers -- hours on the chair. so i had an opportunity to be with john and see john's work as the parliamentarian and i associate myself with all the remarks given by the previous speakers. john is very knowledgeable, well-read about the rules of the house, as my colleague jeff flake said, john was fair and john was respected, an is respected, by the leadership on both sides as well as his staff. mr. pastor: i have to tell you, his staff was always well-prepared. they anticipated, especially in debates that we had controversial bills, they anticipated some of the areas that would hit some rocky roads and they were always prepared. so his staff was prepared an they were always kind of caring to the person who was up on the chair and many times assisted me to make sure that i rae the paper right or gave the right response. so i have to tell you that john as the parliamentarian did bring stability and respect and i thank him for that. but during some of the debate that was pretty boring or during votes,

mr. geren from the gsa. >> good morning, chairman bishop, ranking member grijalva and members of the subcommittee. thank you for the opportunity to appear before you today to discussed the proposed dwight d. eisenhower memorial. gsa is honored to play a role many helping create a memorial to president dwight d. eisenhower. his long a rear of noble service is and should be a source of inspiration to the american people. the commission was tasked with creating an appropriate permanent memorial to perpetuate his memory and contributions to the united states. human resource support, financial and accounting services, legal and contracting support and our role expanded as the commission's vision became clear. given our experience and expertise, the commission asked gsa to help select both a design firm and construction contractor for the memorial. at the request of the commission we used our proven design excellence process to select the design firm. this competitive process seeks the most qualified designers. we seek to contract with the nation's most talented architects, landscape architects and engi

mr. honda: i would like to reserve and offer the rest of the time to our closer, the gentleman from arizona, the great representative grijalva. >> i thank the chairman for his work on the budget. the republican majority is asking the american people to once more accept the premise that a trickle-down theory of economics is the path to solvency, balanced budget and fiscal responsibility. well, this theory has promoted -- all it has done is create a dry opportunity for the middle class in this country. unemployment is up and has increased the number of poor and unemployed in this country. and this kind of insecurity has led us to the situation we are in. the progressive budget, budget for all, re-introduces something very fundamental to the american people. its values and moral imperative has made us a great country. there should be no privileged group that -- accept 40% to 50% from the tax cuts. that is needed in this society and our budget asks for shared burden and shared responsibility. we create jobs, we frontload jobs in this. we are about reducing the deficit and invest in the american people. we invest in our people, o