mr. speaker , i rise in opposition to the structured rule only insofar as it restricts both the number of amendments made in order and the time allowed for debate of such a grave piece of legislation . 
the restrictive nature of h. res. 283 will deprive the american people of debate over the aspects of the proposed legislation that affects them the most . 
h.r. 1817 is the first authorization measure since the passage of the homeland security act of 2003 . 
ruling only a quarter of the 80 amendments offered at the committee on rules meeting does not measure well with the action that the appropriators have taken to hold the department of homeland security ( dhs ) accountable for its unfulfilled reporting requirements . 
the appropriators withheld over $ 700 million from dhs due to these requirements ; therefore , our passage of the most comprehensive and representative measure possible would equate to having conducted `` due diligence '' on our part . 
just yesterday , we in the house passed the appropriations act for fy 2006 , h.r. 2360 , by a margin of 424-1 . 
an open rule for debate on the authorization measure would have continued the spirit of true bi-partisanship . 
i joined my committee colleagues in considering this bill from its incipiency as it passed in both the committees on homeland security on april 28 , 2005 and judiciary on may 12 , 2005 unanimously by voice vote . 
today , the committee of the whole will make history by passing its first homeland security authorization measure , and i support an expedient but prudent completion of this endeavor . 
during the 13-hour homeland security committee markup session that ended at 11 : 15 p.m. , i was able to secure sincere commitments from the majority leadership to work with me for inclusion of some of my major initiatives : funding and more clearly defining the citizen corps and the citizen corps councils -- which will include consideration of a stand-alone bill that i will introduce shortly ; and increasing capacity for historically black colleges and universities , hispanic serving institutions , and tribal institutions in homeland security procurement and in employment with the department of homeland security . 
in addition , i was fortunate to have had my amendment , co-sponsored by the gentlelady from california , ms. lofgren , that seeks to authorize the funding of programs for the education of minorities in the areas of cyberscience , research , and development to close the gap in achievement in those areas and to make america better equipped to fight terrorism overall . 
furthermore , i achieved an agreement from the majority committee leadership to collaborate on addressing the mr. speaker , what the house has done this week and will do today will establish the breadth and efficacy of the entire department of homeland security . 
i hope that my colleagues will keep that in mind as we work to debate the amendments that have been made in order . 
