mr. chairman , i yield myself such time as i may consume . 
mr. chairman , the amendment is identical to those i have offered to appropriations bills for the past couple of years . 
the amendment trims outlays for h.r. 2361 by 1 percent under the holman rule , which means if the amendment passes , it will be up to the administration to determine where the cuts will fall . 
i want to thank the gentleman from north carolina ( mr. taylor ) xz4003981 , the gentleman from washington ( mr. dicks ) xz4001090 , the ranking member . 
as always , they have done a solid job of this . 
i understand the dynamics of bringing a bill out of committee . 
they have done a good job . 
they are below what would have been expected , but we are still not at a balanced budget ; and so i offer this amendment . 
in fact , just the other day a democratic colleague mentioned this bill and said the gentleman from north carolina ( mr. taylor ) xz4003981 is `` as tight as a snare drum , '' and i take that as an extreme compliment . 
that said , i do not think the funding levels of this bill are reflective of a country with a $ 340 billion deficit . 
the amendment would trim a penny on the dollar across the agencies funded by this bill . 
despite the stripped-down character of the bill , i think there are still some areas worthy of examination . 
for example , the kennedy center for performing arts . 
some years ago as a member of the house interior committee , i heard testimony on de-accessioning the kennedy center from the national park service . 
james wolfensohn , its director and later head of the world bank , pleaded with the subcommittee to cut the center loose . 
he said the center needed millions of dollars in structural repairs , yet he could not move forward on them because of the park service contracting requirements and inflated costs . 
we got rid of the kennedy center , except that we did not really . 
the only national park service cut loose in the past 20 years , supposedly , and yet in this bill it includes $ 17.8 million for operation and maintenance at the kennedy center and $ 10 million for construction . 
now , i know the kennedy center has serious structural problems , but given the legislative history of this issue , i would like to know how long we are going to continue to have this center that we have to fund . 
that is just one example . 
i question whether the various agencies really need all of the new vehicles authorized in this bill . 
i estimate at least $ 5 million for those . 
i question some of the administrative accounts . 
the chairman has done a fine job in reining in costs , particularly in the area of land acquisition ; but at a time of a $ 300-plus million deficit , we need to do more . 
this amendment would do that . 
even in a small way , i encourage support of this amendment . 
mr. chairman , i reserve the balance of my time . 
