mr. speaker , i yield myself the balance of my time . 
i appreciate the opportunity coming here and discussing this particular open rule that allows for us to discuss the prioritization which is the key element of what we do in every appropriations issue . 
the gentleman from wisconsin is free to come here on the floor and talk about whether he believes the prioritization of this committee is accurate or not , whether he believes the democrat approach would be a tax increase or not . 
but the same discussion also takes place in another area and it takes place in the committee process before it ever comes to this bill . 
i am here to still contend that the committee , both republican and democrat , did a good job in coming up with a prioritization process . 
when the gentleman from wisconsin talks about the desire for having new land , i do not dispute that nor do i oppose it necessarily . 
what we are saying is it is part of the prioritization . 
i would support acquisition of new land once we finally fully fund and take care of the lands we have . 
this committee has looked into that . 
this committee put significant new money not just into national parks but to maintain the backlog that we have of maintenance in our national parks . 
that is prioritization . 
this committee recognized by putting pilt up to at least the level it was last year that there is a prioritization that takes place there at the same time . 
i was saying with pilt , and i will say it again , that what we have to do is fully fund it because it has been looked at for too long , especially when the minority party was in charge here and there were basically no increases in pilt funding , it has been looked at for too long as welfare for the west . 
it is not . 
it is rent that is due on that land and if you prioritize the budget , you prioritize those programs first before you expand anything else . 
i have to commend this committee for actually doing that . 
i think there are some areas in which i think they could go ahead and move forward in those particular areas but once again prioritizing those commitments we have already made and fully funding those first . 
that is what this committee has tried to do . 
whether you like or dislike their end product , they should be congratulated for coming that close . 
in closing , mr. speaker , i have to reiterate the fairness of this open rule and urge its adoption because of that along with the underlying appropriation legislation . 
no bill is perfect . 
i am sure we can all come up with issues here and there in the appropriations bill or , for that matter , in any other bill we have where we would like to have it come out differently had we had our way , but in judging this bill as a whole and the process that has been through it to get to the point , i believe it is worthy for members to support this particular piece of legislation . 
and then i do want to talk to my good friend from florida about what we really did with education in utah . 
he is summarizing the new york times , not reality . 
but other than that , we will forget that point right now . 
i will talk later to him about that . 
again , i urge members to support this rule . 
the text of the amendment previously referred to by mr. hastings xz4001701 of florida is as follows : previous question on h. res. 287 -- rule for h.r 2361 fy06 interior appropriations at the end of the resolution , add the following new sections : sec . 
2. notwithstanding any other provision of this resolution , the amendment printed in section 3 shall be in order without intervention of any point of order and before any other amendment if ofered by representative obey of wisconsin or a designee . 
the amendment is not subject to amendment except for pro forma amendments or to a demand for a division of the question in the committee of the whole or in the house . 
sec . 
3. the amendment referred to in section 2 is as follows : amendment to h.r. 2361 , as reported offered by mr. obey xz4003000 of wisconsin at the end of the bill ( before the short title ) , insert the following : sec . 
__ . 
( a ) the amount otherwise provided in this act for `` environmental protection agency -- state and tribal assistance grants '' ( and the amount specified under such heading for making capitalization grants for the clean water state revolving funds under title vi of the federal water pollution control act ) is hereby increased by $ 500 , 000 , 000 . 
( b ) in the case of taxpayers with adjusted gross income in excess of $ 1 , 000 , 000 for calendar year 2006 , the amount of tax reduction resulting from enactment of the economic growth and tax relief reconciliation act of 2001 ( pub . 
l. 107-16 ) and the jobs and growth tax relief reconciliation act of 2003 ( pub . 
l. 108-27 ) shall be reduced by 1.562 percent. & lt ; p & gt ; mr. speaker , i yield back the balance of my time , and i move the previous question on the resolution . 
