mr. speaker , house resolution 558 is a rule that provides for consideration of house joint resolution 72 , making further continuing appropriations for fiscal year 2006 . 
as we approach the end of the week and the time that we will be taking in our districts to celebrate the thanksgiving holiday , this particular rule and the cr probably are among the least controversial things that the gentleman from florida and i will discuss today . 
i look forward to an abbreviated debate on this . 
the rule provides for 1 hour of debate in the house equally divided and controlled by the chairman and ranking minority member of the committee on appropriations . 
the rule waives all points of order against consideration of the joint resolution and provides one motion to recommit . 
i want to commend chairman lewis , ranking member obey , and the entire appropriations committee in the house for the determined effort this year to avoid an omnibus spending bill . 
this is something that unfortunately has become a routine part of our end-of-the-year appropriations process and chairman lewis under tremendous leadership with a great committee behind him has managed to avoid that this year , in fact , setting almost a record by completing all of the house 's work on the appropriations process before july 4. the committee has practiced due diligence and is working to pass each of these bills individually rather than having them attached as a train at the end of the year . 
this continuing resolution is necessary because our friends on the other side of the rotunda are a little bit further behind in their appropriations process and we are working through the conference report stage . 
this cr will allow the appropriators to continue that conferencing work to ensure that we have a clean appropriations process where bills are moving individually in the regular order . 
today we are considering the labor , health and human services and education appropriations bill which leaves just three outstanding appropriations conference reports . 
the underlying resolution permits congress to finish its work and provide the president adequate time to review the measures before signing them into law . 
h. j. res. 72 simply extends the previous continuing resolution through december 17 . 
in fact , mr. speaker , it is a one sentence change , only shifting the date to december 17 for the continuing operations for the government . 
the cr is a clean continuation of h. j. res. 68 , which passed the house in september by a vote of 348-65 , and which funded programs and activities at the lowest of the house-passed level , the senate-passed level or the fiscal year 2005 current rate and included language prohibiting agencies from resuming or initiating programs for procurement not funded in fy 2005 and prohibited agencies from awarding new grants and other forms of assistance during the period of continuing resolution . 
throughout the appropriations process , the appropriators have demonstrated their commitment to fiscal responsibility by working within the framework we established in the budget resolution earlier this year . 
again , i want to express my gratitude to the gentleman from california ( chairman lewis ) , the ranking member , the gentleman from wisconsin ( mr. obey ) xz4003000 and the entire committee and staff of the appropriations committee for their hard work this year . 
i urge members to support the rules and the underlying continuing resolution so we can finish the appropriations process in regular order and continue on our way toward responsibly funding the needs of america . 
mr. speaker , i reserve the balance of my time . 
