mr. chairman , i yield myself as much time as i may consume . 
mr. chairman , the amendment changes the effective date of the introduced version of the bill from after december 31 , 2005 to instead make the new limitation on the number of congressional gold medals effective on enactment of the bill . 
the change will be made so that uniform guidelines governing the medal program will be in effect for the whole 109th congress and beyond and not change in the middle of the congress . 
if we were to pass the bill but leave the effective date until the end of the session there would be a land rush to enact bills on gold medals that would place members in an awkward position . 
mr. chairman , i yield back the balance of my time . 
