mr. speaker , i submit the following correspondence for the record .  house of representatives , committee on ways and means , washington , dc , september 29 , 2005 .  dear chairman lewis : i am writing concerning h. j. res. 68 , making continuing appropriations for the fiscal year 2006 , and for other purposes , which is currently scheduled for floor consideration today .  as you know , the committee on ways and means has jurisdiction over matters concerning medicare .  there are two sections within the introduced resolution that are within the authorizing jurisdiction of the committee on ways and means .  section 118 of the resolution allows the social security administration to continue hearing medicare appeals pending the transfer of that authority to the department of health and human services .  secondly , section 121 extends for one year the availability of an appropriation provided to the centers for medicare and medicaid services and the social security administration under the medicare prescription drug , improvement , and modernization act of 2003 .  however , in order to expedite this legislation for floor consideration , the committee will forgo action on this resolution .  this is being done because of the agreement reached by our respective committees ' staff .  an e-mail on this issue , sent by the committee , states , `` we are happy to concede your jurisdiction in this matter , and included the language solely because of omb 's [ office of management and budget ] request that we do so .  we do n't believe that it prejudices any future action on your part. '' i will place a copy of this letter in the congressional record during floor consideration .  best regards , bill thomas , 