mr. speaker , i yield myself such time as i may consume .  mr. speaker , today i think we are going to do a bill that will make us proud to be americans .  why do i say proud to be americans ?  because i think this bill , more than any other , illustrates the compassion of the american people .  why do we say that ?  let me give you some examples that are in this bill and are funded .  special education , programs to help young people that are disabled for many different reasons .  it is a matter of caring for them .  centers for disease control , an agency that is in 43 countries around the world watching out for us .  we hear a lot about avian flu .  we worry about avian flu , but the people that are really doing this are americans in the centers for disease control team that is out there in these 43 nations , ready to stand by and alert us if it becomes a greater problem .  education .  the number one challenge of government today is to educate people to compete in the world of tomorrow .  if you read the literature , you find more and more emphasis on the importance of education if a nation is to remain strong , if a nation is to provide a standard of living that the people expect , that we are used to enjoying in this country .  the competition is going to get tougher in the years ahead .  you only need to read tom friedman 's book `` the world is flat '' in which it is pointed out how much is happening or talk to people that have traveled , as is the case of my state superintendent , to countries in the far east , and realize how much emphasis is being put on education .  we in the united states need to do the same , and this bill recognizes that .  education , going back to thomas jefferson , was designed to give all americans through a system of public education , an equal opportunity to their future .  head start .  it is another program under education where we say to children from areas and schools and homes where they may not get somebody reading to them , may not have a chance to get that head start they need going into the school program .  our authorizing committee , i think , took a giant step forward on head start in authorizing it to become more than just a welfare program , as was originally envisioned , but actually providing that people that man the head start program have some experience in education , that they do more than teach .  the literature makes it very clear that education does not start at the first grade or even for that matter in the period ahead of that .  it starts early , early on , and head start is another example of the compassion of america .  national institutes of health .  we fund that in this bill .  this is an agency that is researching , finding cures .  every member i am sure has had parents in his office with a child with juvenile diabetes or with a parent with alzheimer 's , pleading with us to do more in medical research , to find cures ; and this , again , illustrates the compassion of america .  we have more than doubled the amount of money going to nih in the last several years because we recognize that this is key to the health of america , to find cures , to find new ways to address the concerns of the people that all of us have seen in our office who are pleading with us to do something .  this bill has 500 programs in it , 500 programs that help americans , and in many different ways .  math and science , i have here a report just put out by a group commissioned by two senators and two house members , and it is entitled `` rising above the gathering storm. '' think about that title : `` rising above the gathering storm. '' what is the gathering storm ?  the gathering storm is the inability to compete as a nation , and the thrust of this report is to rise above that .  their number one recommendation is an increase in america 's talent pool by vastly improving k-12 science and mathematics education .  we make that kind of a commitment in this bill .  we do give extra funding for math and science and recognize that in the world of tomorrow for our young people to compete they need to have that background .  meals on wheels , another example of compassion .  if you have talked with people that work in this program , mostly volunteers who take out these meals , that allows seniors to stay in their homes for a longer period of time , that allows them to see somebody if they are living alone maybe once a day or more often in the week , a wonderful program in terms of caring about people .  afterschool programs , we fund those , and those of you who live particularly in the big cities realize how important that is .  i talked this morning with a young man that is running an afterschool program in the gentleman from pennsylvania 's ( mr. sherwood )  district , a member of our committee , where he said how much they can help people with their afterschool programs .  there are moneys in here to roll out the prescription drug program because we have a responsibility in this committee to provide for the administration of these programs .  global aids .  global aids is in this bill , $ 100 million to address , along with the money in the foreign operations bill that again is very , very important ; and i think we can be proud to be americans .  that is what i said at the outset .  i say it again , that when you look at what we have funded in this bill , we have funding in this bill for 280 million americans and over many billions of dollars to address the needs of people , that addresses things that are very important in their lives .  i urge all the members , before you rush to judgment on this bill , realize that we are in this bill doing a lot of good things for american citizens .  maybe it is not as much as you like , not many bills ever are as much as people would like that have a high degree of interest , but there is a lot of good in here .  there is a lot in here for special education .  we increase it .  we increase nih .  more medical research to address those problems of juvenile diabetes is an example that you hear about in your office ; more money for education , title i. more money for community health centers .  any of us who have those in , and i hope most members do , realize how important the community health centers are to people who have no access , who do not have a family doctor .  it helps the hospitals because it means that people can go to the community health center instead of to the emergency room .  we add money for that .  community services block grants .  think of that title .  community services , and we give block grants to communities to administer to local problems .  this is an example of a program that helps local people .  liheap , again , americans recognizing that people in areas of severe weather conditions need an additional helping hand , and that is especially true in this time that we are living in where people need to address the problems of excessive fuel costs .  so i can not say enough .  i hope all of my colleagues and the members that are listening to this , reading the bill , will take note of the fact that whereas this may not be everything you like , this bill does a lot of good .  i do not think you want to go home and tell people you are against more money for special education , for those that are least fortunate , that you are against more money for education , for medical research , for liheap , for global aids , for people around the world that are less fortunate than we are .  so , again , i say think on what the importance is of what you are doing .  take pride in america .  take pride in the compassion of the people of this nation as embodied in this bill .  mr. speaker , the complete table of all the funding levels included in the conference report has been printed in the & lt ; /em & gt ; & lt ; em & gt ; congressional record as of november 16 ; and for those of my colleagues who are wondering what each of the programs might be of the 500 , you can go to the record of november 16 and pick out a program that you might have a special interest in .  mr. speaker , i am pleased to present before the house today the conference report on the fiscal year 2006 appropriations for the departments of labor , health and human services , education and related agencies .  many of my colleagues are aware of the difficult choices we had to make in this bill .  in february , congress received the president 's fy 2006 budget request .  in light of our budget deficit , the president 's request assumed a one percent cut in domestic spending , exempting both defense and homeland security from this reduction .  our budget resolution approved this recommendation .  this cut , taken together with required increases for implementing the prescription drug benefit program , brings our bill to $ 1.4 billion below last year 's level .  let me emphasize , we made a commitment to reduce deficits .  recognizing the will of this house , we have put together a bill that best reflects the priorities of this body and does a good job of meeting the needs of the american people .  the conference report has no budget gimmicks , no emergency spending designations , and no earmarks .  so many of the programs in this bill play an important part in the lives of american people .  peter drucker , who passed away on friday , was considered by many to be the most influential management thinker of the past century .  he said , `` successful enterprises create the conditions to allow their employees to do their best work. '' a successful employee needs adequate knowledge to thrive .  i believe an investment in education is an investment in people .  we support teachers and students by increasing funding for title i by $ 100 million .  title i provides additional resources to low-income schools to help principals , teachers and students close education achievement gaps .  many of my colleagues speak with me about the financial demands of special education on their local school districts .  in this bill , funding for special education is increased by $ 100 million .  i believe the quality of classroom teachers and principals is one of the most important factors that affect student achievement .  this bill provides $ 100 million to reward effective teachers and to offer incentives for highly qualified teachers to teach in high-need schools .  we provide $ 184 million for math and science initiative .  trio , gear up , vocational education state grants , and adult education , programs have strong support from members of this body .  these programs were proposed for termination in the president 's budget ; however , we have allocated over $ 3 billion for the continuation of these important efforts .  the sharp rise in college costs continues to be a barrier to many students .  this bill provides the full amount needed to hold the maximum pell grant at the current level of $ 4 , 050 , over $ 800 million over fy 2005 .  healthcare is a critical part of a nation 's economic development .  mr. speaker , as you know , many of the community health centers have served as america 's health care safety net for the nation 's underserved populations .  funding for the community health centers is at $ 1.8 billion , an increase of $ 66 million over last year .  as a result of our commitment to the national institutes of health , our citizens are living longer and better lives .  we have provided over $ 28 billion to nih to support medical research , $ 150 million over fy 2005 .  the low income home energy assistance program ensures that low-income households are not without heating or cooling , and provides protection to our most vulnerable populations , the elderly , households with small children , and persons with disabilities .  given the anticipated high costs of energy due to hurricanes katrina and rita , we have provided over $ 2.2 billion for fy 2006 .  in the department of labor , we have provided nearly $ 3 billion for workforce training programs .  these programs will ensure that our dislocated workers and most disadvantaged youth will return to gainful employment .  mr. speaker , in order to implement more than 400 provisions of the medicare modernization act and ensure senior citizens receive the prescription drug benefits we provided in mma , we have allocated nearly $ 1 billion over the fy 2005 level to the centers for medicare & amp ; medicaid services and social security administration .  while benefits that both of these agencies provide come through mandatory spending via the ways and means committee , this bill provides the funding for the agencies ' administrative costs .  much more could be said about this bill , but given the allocation , we have produced a fair , balanced and responsible bill that best meets the needs of the american people .  mr. speaker , i reserve the balance of my time .  