mr. speaker , i yield myself such time as i might consume . 
i thank the gentleman from utah ( mr. bishop ) xz4000291 for the time . 
mr. speaker , i rise today in opposition to this rule , not because of what it allows but rather because of what it does not allow . 
as my colleague from the majority noted , this rule permits members to offer amendments to the interior and environment appropriations bill under the house 's 5-minute rule if they do not need waivers of the house rules . 
as someone who will be offering an amendment to that bill later today , i appreciate that the majority structured the rule in such a manner . 
however , i am greatly concerned that the rule blocks the ranking democrat of the appropriations committee , my friend the gentleman from wisconsin ( mr. obey ) xz4003000 , from offering a critical amendment which would have added $ 500 million to the bill to fully restore epa 's state and tribal grant program , and clean water state revolving fund to their fiscal 2004 levels . 
these two programs allow communities around the country to repair and modernize their water systems , and the underlying legislation greatly underfunds each account . 
for the fiscally conservative in the house , the amendment of the gentleman from wisconsin ( mr. obey ) xz4003000 was revenue neutral , paying for itself by capping the tax cut for millionaires at just over $ 138 , 000 . 
the amendment of the gentleman from wisconsin ( mr. obey ) xz4003000 could have benefited literally millions of americans by making their drinking water cleaner . 
but the rules committee , on a straight party line vote , prohibited the house from considering the gentleman 's amendment . 
mr. speaker , we live in trying times with enormous fiscal constraints , many of which have been brought upon ourselves . 
as the chairman and ranking democrat of the interior and environmental appropriations subcommittee will probably note today , they did the best that they could with what they were given . 
indeed they did . 
mr. speaker , i commend the gentleman from north carolina ( chairman taylor ) and the gentleman from washington ( mr. dicks ) xz4001090 for their hard and perhaps most importantly bipartisan work on this legislation . 
i do believe that they did the best with what the majority gave them . 
the underlying legislation includes funding which is essential to everglades restoration , in my district and throughout south florida . 
the bill maintains funding for the national endowment of the arts at its current level , and it increases funding for the national endowment for the humanities by a little less than $ 500 , 000 . 
the bill also increases funding for operations at our national parks , as well as a $ 67 million much-needed increase in funding for the bureau of indian affairs . 
despite these increases the underlying legislation makes major cuts in funding to some of our most important environmental and health programs . 
$ 240 million has been cut from the clean water state revolving fund . 
$ 110 million from the state and tribal assistance grant account . 
conservation funding is about $ 750 million below , or less than half of what was promised when congress passed the conservation and restoration act in 2000 . 
overall , epa 's budget has been cut by $ 300 million . 
this is only the second of 13 appropriations measures which this body will consider over the next few months . 
it is also the second appropriations bill in which we can see the drastic and dramatic effects of the bush tax cuts . 
republicans are going to try and associate domestic funding cuts with the cost of the war in iraq . 
it seems like a plausible reason , and certainly one that the public could believe . 
but the truth is that domestic spending cuts are not occurring to pay for the war , they are happening to pay for the president 's tax cuts . 
the republican budget that congress approved 2 weeks ago only set aside $ 50 billion for iraq and afghanistan combined . 
the remaining costs , probably another $ 50 billion or more , if this year is any indication , will be funded by congress through so-called emergency supplemental appropriations . 
these emergency costs will be added to the national debt , because we irresponsibly did not budget for it though we knew they were obvious . 
what has ensued is not the fault of the appropriations committee , mr. speaker , it is the fault of those who supported the budget resolution . 
later today , some members will seek to improve the funding shortfalls , which the chairman and ranking democrat sought to avoid . 
for example , the gentleman from arizona ( mr. grijalva ) xz4001620 will offer an amendment that restores the president 's 33 percent cut for environmental justice programs to the fiscal year 2005 level . 
the gentlewoman from texas ( ms. eddie bernice johnson ) xz4002040 will also offer an amendment that will increase funding for the cleanup of brownfields sites by $ 2 million . 
additionally , i will offer an amendment that will require epa to identify and take the necessary steps to protect minority and low income communities from bearing a disproportionate burden of poor environmental policy which adversely affects their health and well being . 
all communities currently do not share in the burden of health and environmental risks , and my amendment expresses congress ' support for epa doing what is necessary to protect these communities . 
mr. speaker , individuals in our country on their own are not going to force power companies to reduce mercury emissions from smokestacks . 
individuals on their own are not going to conduct major environmental restoration , and they certainly do not have the capacity to clean up our drinking water . 
but collectively , collectively , mr. speaker , we can all make this happen . 
when utilizing the clean air act , epa can force power plants to come into compliance with new standard reviews . 
when enforcing the clean drinking water act , epa can require cities and counties to provide their residents with safe drinking water . 
with innovation that can only occur in a consortium of stakeholders , the department of the interior can make major environmental restoration projects a reality . 
enforcement is not free and neither is environmental restoration . 
everyone in america shares in the responsibility of contributing his or her own fair share . 
is there any member in this body who is unwilling to pay just a little more to ensure that everyone in america has clean air to breathe ? 
if given the chance , who would not be willing to pool his or her resources with others in his or her neighborhood to collectively ensure that everyone , everyone , has safe drinking water , or that no child will be forced to grow up playing in backyards polluted by dangerous levels of mercury and other toxins . 
i do not blame or fault the appropriators for the funding cuts in the underlying legislation ; but i do fault the majority in this body for creating a situation in which failure to adequately fund america 's needs has become imminent . 
the american people will feel the same way when they wake up tomorrow and realize that their children and grandchildren will be paying for our fiscal mismanagement for generations to come . 
mr. speaker , i reserve the balance of my time . 
