mr. speaker , i am pleased that the rules package includes a provision that will make the homeland security committee a permanent committee . 
more importantly , we will be giving the committee real oversight and legislative jurisdiction . 
but i am disappointed that the majority has only given shared jurisdiction to the homeland security committee in some areas . 
this creates the potential for ongoing turf battles that the 9/11 commission warned against . 
i am also discouraged that the majority has decided to add a third day of suspension bills to the legislative calendar each week . 
an increasing amount of legislation is being passed by the house under a suspension of the rules . 
this is unnecessary and keeps us from doing the real business of the house -- budgeting , appropriations and oversight . 
a perfect example of this is the massive omnibus appropriations bill passed for fiscal year 2005 just a few weeks ago . 
this bill was rushed to the floor , ignoring the house rule requiring a 3-day review period before voting on conference reports . 
only after the house voted on the bill , careful scrutiny of the language uncovered a provision allowing certain members and staff access to any american 's tax return . 
not only was this an embarrassing episode for the house leadership , it continued a troubling trend . 
in 4 out of the last 5 years , the majority has made a massive omnibus bill the only option to fund the government . 
this take-it-or-leave-it approach is not acceptable and is fiscally irresponsible . 
congress has also been asleep at the switch when it comes to funding for iraq and the war on terrorism . 
this administration continues to fund the war on terrorism by supplemental appropriations . 
this is not a temporary war . 
congress needs to stand up to this white house , stand up for honest budgeting , and require that funding for iraq and the war on terrorism be made on-budget , and through the regular appropriations process . 
by appropriating through omnibus bills and budgeting by supplemental , congress is surrendering its constitutional duties . 
the results of this practice are ballooning deficits -- the cbo confirmed that the 2004 deficit is the largest in history , $ 413 billion -- a lack of follow-through to determine how appropriated funds are being spent . 
without proper oversight as a backstop , problems in the executive branch can spin out of control . 
members are learning about problems for the first time through the newspapers , not as a result of tough oversight hearings . 
this kind of lax or nonexistent oversight contributes to situations like we saw in abu ghraib prison . 
now we have learned about secret , permanent detention facilities in the united states where possible terrorists are held indefinitely , without any legal status . 
mr. speaker , we need to take a hard look at our priorities and get back to doing the business of the house . 
we should be moving forward with a tough , focused oversight agenda , and a schedule that devotes more time to priority , must-pass legislation and less time to suspension bills . 
instead , it appears that we are adopting a rules package today that will bring us more of the same . 
