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“TRANSPORTATION, TREASURY, AND INDEPENDENT AGENCIES APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 2005” mentioning the U.S. Dept of Labor was published in the Extensions of Remarks section on pages E1688 on Sept. 22, 2004.
The publication is reproduced in full below:
TRANSPORTATION, TREASURY, AND INDEPENDENT AGENCIES APPROPRIATIONS ACT,
2005
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speech of
HON. EARL POMEROY
of north dakota
in the house of representatives
Wednesday, September 19, 2004
The House in Committee of the Whole House on the State of the Union had under consideration the bill (H.R. 5025) making appropriations for the Departments of Transportation and Treasury, and independent agencies for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2005, and for other purposes.
Mr. POMEROY. Mr. Chairman, I rise today to say that I will be voting for H.R. 5006, the fiscal year 2005 Labor, Health and Human Services, Education Appropriations bill, but doing so with some reluctance. While I support many of the funding provisions in this legislation, I also believe that this bill shortchanges many important needs in education and health care.
Almost three years after the historic No Child Left Behind legislation was passed into law, I remain concerned about Congress' ongoing failure to commit the resources promised to our Nation's teachers, parents and students. While I support the intentions of the education reform promise to leave no child behind, I am also convinced that the success of this new law will be determined in part by the investment made in this historic reform effort. I am deeply disappointed that this funding plan falls more than $7.2 billion short of the resources promised for low-income and disadvantaged districts, thereby making up the vast majority of the total $9.5 billion NCLB shortfall contained in the bill.
Not only does this bill fall short on critical funding for education, but it also makes cuts to the Rural Hospital Flexibility and Outreach grant programs, important resources to North Dakota health care providers. It is my understanding that Chairman Regula has committed to work to restore this funding in conference, and I intend to actively support those efforts.
Certainly, this bill includes many provisions that I applaud. While I was pleased that the Rural Education Achievement Program once again received funding to help rural districts manage the No Child Left Behind Act's new accountability requirements, I strongly believe this program merits an increase in funding. I was also pleased that this bill restores the federal overtime protections to six million workers who saw their overtime pay threatened by the Department of Labor's new rules.
Ultimately, I cast my vote in favor of this legislation in order to ensure that the appropriations process could move forward. I remain hopeful that the Senate will include higher funding levels for these programs and that we can work on a bipartisan basis to develop a fiscally responsible funding plan that provides adequate resources to strengthen our schools, address our public health needs, and support our Nation's workers.
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