besides, the grant program that the gentleman seeks to increase had $143 million that was unobligated or not spent at the time this bill was reported. in other words, there's money in the pipeline, a good deal of money in the pipeline. so as a supporter of increased mitigation, and as chairman of a committee that's championed increased mitigation, i believe we have enough funds for now to support ongoing mitigation work , and i think the offset would be detrimental to fema's readiness to respond to disasters. so i respectfully urge a no vote on the amendment, and i reserve the balance of my time. the chair: the gentleman from texas. mr. poe: i yield myself such time as i may consume. the chair: the gentleman is recognized. mr. poe: i appreciate the chairman's input on my amendment. as i mentioned earlier, the request for predisaster mitigation is three times what is available under current law. and i'm probably -- have dealt with fema as much as anybody in this house, not by choice but because of the fact that our district keeps getting hammered by hurricanes starting with katrina. an

we can do that again if we just start by getting some common sense and repeal the unobligated funds in the recovery act. i yield the gentleman from texas. the chair: the gentleman's time has expire. the gentleman from virginia. mr. mollohan: this is the wrong time. the markets are improving, confidence in the economy sin creasing, this is the wrong time to jerk the rug out from under the stimulus package, which has gone a long way in achieving this progress. i oppose the amendment and yield back the balance of my time. the chair: all time having expired, the question son the amendment offered by the gentleman from kansas. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair, the noes have it the amendment is not aegroo -- agreed to. mr. tiahrt: i ask for a recorded vote. the chair: the gentleman asks for a recorded vote and pursuant to clause 6 of rule 18 further proceedings are postponed. for what purpose does the gentleman rise? >> i have an amendment at the desk. the clerk: amendment number 102, printed in the congressional record offered by mr. cuellar of texas. t

a third of the funds from the last year of the bush administration also remain unobligated. so this doesn't look like a situation where throwing money at the problem, money at the program will solve its problems. since the program obviously cannot spend the funds it currently has bank rolled. now, it's true that e-verify system has problems. particularly with falsely telling an unacceptable number of u.s. citizens that they cannot work. we provide ample money in this bill to work on those problems. however the 2010 budget funds the entire $112 million request for the e-verify system. it also, by the way, extends the program's authorization by two years. the additional funding already provided in the bill will allow the d.h.s. managers of e-verify to improve oversight and auditing of the program, to address technical difficulties that hamper its success. there is absolutely no indication of where taking this $112 million budget figure to $162 million absolutely no indication that that would accomplish anything except, except decimating the top ranks of d.h.s. because this is

able to have as a result of the aprooul of our reprogramming requests and taking $17 million of unobligated funds from prior years, dedicating those to staffing, additional staffing in 200 the. the annualized costs of those 50 positions that we're bringing on this year are the increase in the 2010 budget. >> do you need new positions for the upcoming fiscal year? >> i would say that first of all we're extremely grateful for the president for the increase in the 2010 budget and it's a meaningful increase for this agency. naen 2011, we saw a much greeter increase. the opportunity to move towards that 2011 budget earlier would be a wonderful opportunity for us to bring that number of staff on over a two-year period rather than all in 2011. if congress ultimately approves that number. >> i am troubled the current funding level supports a staff that's 5% lower than your peak level back in fiscal year '05. if you look at the growth of regulated entities, and if you look at the amount of money involved, if you look at the number of american families who now have savings in the stock market, the fa

another amendment of mine would have reduced the amount of appropriations in this bill by the amount unobligated by the stimulus funds that was given earlier this year. the founding fathers gave congress the sole power of the purse. in article 1, section 9, clause 7 of the constitution specifies that, quote, no money shall be drawn from the treasury but in consequence of appropriations made by law. unquote. many of the founding fathers believe that the power of the purse is the most important power of congress. in federalist number 58, james madison wrote, quote, this power over the purse may in fact be regarded as the most complete and effectual weapon with which any constitution can arm the immediate representatives of the people for obtaining a redress of every grievance for carrying into effect every just and salutary measure, unquote. whether you believe the federal government is spending too much money as i do or not enough, the american people deserve an open process that allows votes on how we spend their money. regardless of how much time it takes. 15 seconds. the chair: the gentleman i

i understand, this week i offered a simple solution, rescind unobligated money from the stimulus bill and save taxpayers over a quarter of a trillion dollars. that's money we won't have to borrow from the chinese. unfortunately the amendment failed on a party line vote. today i'm introduced the repeal of the stimulus act of 2009 and i urge my colleagues to join with me to repeal this stimulus bill, end the spending schemes of the current administration and cut back on the amount of money we have to borrow from china. . >> address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. >> mr. speaker, the bankruptcy filings of both gm and chrysler are threatening local auto dealers as both companies are able to buypass laws that are designed to protect small dealerships. hutting the doors on these businesses will mean more job losses. it's incredible that many of us here in congress that these can be justified if it isn't saving a job and in fact, eliminating jobs. i'm co-sponsoring legislation that would protect these jobs by restoring the franchise agreements between th

and 10% of the 2008 funding is presently unobligated. a award decisions are pending. d.h.s. knows of no unfunded requirements. remaining balances will enable new york to transition from a pilot to an ongoing regional operation and that's what needs to happen. adding money to continue a completed pilot is not the answer. new york surely does not want to be dependent on year-to-year appropriations amendments to consider this vital protected function. this needs to move to a sustainment mode run by new york and its partnecommunities and needs to identify funding sources that can be used for this purpose. these urban areas security grants and the transit security grants and others. the new york area has received $1.4 billion since 2003 and can expect $98 million in new funding this year. the amendment earmarks for new radiation portal monitors, but no requirement for additional funding, and the ability to put this to use in 2010 is highly questionable. $45 million for the under secretary of management are troubling. we are well below the requests in these areas. we trimmed salar

advocated rescinding funds earmarked by congress for the federal transit administration that remain unobligated after three years. with so many families struggling in this tough economy, we must invest wisely to help our constituents and be vigilant with taxpayer dollars. we need to ensure there is strong oversight and accountability once taxpayer dollars are appropriated. this amendment is a critical step in keeping track of our dollars once they've gone out the door. i urm my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to support this fiscally responsible amendment. thank you and i yield back. i will yield. mr. mollohan: i thank the gentleman for his contribution to the bill. it's a real one and we are pleased to accept the amendment. mr. chairman. the chair: the gentleman from new hampshire. mr. hodes: thank you understand i yield back the balance of my time. the chair: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. is there a member in opposition? with no member in opposition, the question is on the amendment offered by the gentleman from new hampshire. those in favor say aye. those opposed,

periodic census and programs, $7,700,000 of which $206 million shall be derived from available and unobligated balances previously appropriated to remain available until september 30, 2011. national telecommunications and information administration, salaries and expenses, $19,999,000 to remain available until september 30, 2011. public telecommunications facilities, planning and construction, $20 million. united states patent and trademark office, salaries and expenses, $1,930,361. national institute of standards and technology, scientific and technical research and services, $510 million. industrial technology services, $124,700,000. construction of research facilities, $76,500,000. noonoo -- national oceanic and atmospheric administration, operations, research and facilities, $3,198,793 to remain available until september 30, 2011. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentlewoman from guam rise? ms. bordallo: mr. chairman, i have an amendment at the desk. it is number 19 printed in the congressional record on june 15, 2009. the chair: the clerk will designate the amendment. the